THE  LIBRARY 

OF 
THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 
LOS  ANGELES 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 
THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 
LOS  ANGELES 


"  We're  coming  to  meet  you,  Uncle  Randolph,  Baby  and  I." 


HOUSEHOLD  PUZZLES 


BY 

PANSY  (MRS.  G.  R.  ALDEN) 

Author  of  "WANTED,"  "  STEPHEN  MITCHELL'S  JOURNEY," 
"TWENTY  MINUTES  LATE,"  "ESTER  RIED,"  ETC. 


M,*,",a£*'»*<«  )AIJt 

„„        *. 


BOSTON 
LOTHROP   PUBLISHING   COMPANY 


COPYRIGHT,  1875, 

BY 
D.  LOTHKOP  &  Co. 


PANSY 

TKAUE-M\KK  KBOISTKBBD  JUNE  4.  1835. 


?s 

2520 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER   III. 


Two  PETEBS 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


MOURNING  AND  DRESSMAKING 


CHAPTER   X. 
LIGHT  WITHOUT  LOGIC  ..... 

CHAPTER   5TI. 
MISTAKES—  GREAT  AND  SMALL. 


2135324 


CHAPTER   I. 
11  SPIJT  THINGS."      .........       s 

CHAPTER   II. 

17 

RAISINS  ........... 


28 


CHAPTER   IV. 
THEORT 

CHAPTER  V. 
A  SERMON ^ 

CHAPTER   VI. 
SMOKE  AND  BEWILDERMENT. 62 

CHAPTER  VII. 
"WHAT  is  THE  DIFFERENCE?" 76 


89 


CHAPTER   IX. 
DKBTS  AND  DOUBTS.         ........    ^ 


^  Content*. 

CHAPTER   XII.  PAGB 

WMOHTT  MATTERS  IN  SMALL  SCALES.         ....    140 

CHAPTER   XIII. 
PRACTICAL  ARITHMETIC UW 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

B«JfTIMENT  AND  DUST Jfi? 

CHAPTER  XV. 

WATS  AND  M KAN'S.  180 

CHAPTER  XVI. 
PTTTZLING  PEOPLE 194 

CHAPTER  XVII. 
OPPOSING  ELEMENTS 209 

CHAPTER   XVIII. 
THE  FORCE  OF  ARGUMENT 223 

CHAPTER  XIX. 
REAL  OR  IMITATION?  .    238 


CHAPTER   XX. 
A  PROTECTOR.  26? 

CHAPTER   XXI. 
A  PUZZLING  DISCUSSION 268 

CHAPTER   XXII. 
LIGHT 279 

CHAPTER   XXIII. 
A  DISCUSSION  CLOSED 393 


Content*. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 
THEOLOGY  JN  TBS  KITCHEN.          ......    805 

CHAPTER  XXV. 
GOD'S  MTSTEBY  OF  GRACE  ........    819 

CHAPTER   XXVI. 
LACES  AND  DUTY  ..........    833 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 
STOKM  AND  "MOONSHINE."     .......    846 

CHAPTER   XXVIII. 

.........    258 


HOUSEHOLD  PUZZLES. 


CHAPTER  I. 

"SPLIT  THINGS." 

:RMINA  RANDOLPH  drummed  listless- 

ly  yet  gloomily  on  the  window  pane ;  she 
was  watching  the  snow  as  it  came  down 
in  wandering  flakes.  "  Spitting  snow," 
Maria  called  it.  Maria  was  in  the 
kitchen,  making  cookies.  They  mostly  used 
cookies  in  the  Randolph  family,  in  preference  to 
other  kinds  of  cake  ;  not  that  they  preferred  them 
either,  but  they  wore  better.  You  could  "  split 
them  thinner,"  Maria  said,  and  "  work  in  plenty 
of  flour,  and  flour  cost  less  than  butter  and 
eggs."  This  was  the  genius  of  the  Randolph 
family  —  at  least  it  was  the  necessity  —  to  "split 
things  thin,"  and  "  wear  "  them  as  long  as  pos 
sible. 

6 


b  Household  Puzzlet. 

Helen  came  in  from  the  white  world  outside, 
bringing  flakes  of  snow  on  her  cloak  and  sodden 
lumps  of  it  on  her  rubbers. 

"  One  rubber  leaks,"  was  her  announcement ; 
"  one  foot  is  as  wet  as  water.  I  do  wish  I  had  a 
new  pair." 

"Of  feet?"  queried  Ermina,  turning  from  the 
outside  snow.  "  Now,  I  should  like  a  new  pair 
of  almost  anything  conceivable,  except  feet;  I 
am  very  well  satisfied  with  the  ones  I  have." 

A  glance  at  her  trim,  well-shapen  foot  would 
not  have  led  you  to  feel  surprise  at  this  conclu 
sion. 

"  Why  don't  you  have  a  better  fire  ? "  was 
Helen's  only  answer  to  this  sentence. 

"Coal  is  dear,"  Ermina  said,  with  a  shrug  of 
her  shapely  shoulders. 

"What  isn't?"  Helen  answered,  and  there 
was  a  little  spice  of  tartness  in  her  voice ;  "  I'm 
not  going  to  freeze  to  death  to  accommodate  the 
price  of  coal." 

Then  she  put  forth  her  wet  foot  and  slipped 
back  the  under  slide  with  decision;  the  dingy 
leaden  mass  of  coal  instantly  glowed  nt  the 
change  and  the  air  seemed  to  feel  warmer. 
Helen  dropped  her  bundles  on  an  empty  chair, 
herself  into  another,  and  sighed  forlornly  as  she 
held  up  both  hands  to  view  her  finger  ends 
gaping  from  each  separate  glove  finger. 


"Split  Things."  7 

"  Isn't  that  an  elegant  pair  of  gloves  for  one's 
best  to  wear  in  making  morning  calls  ? "  she 
said,  with  quiet  sarcasm. 

"  Especially  when  you  have  the  baker  and  the 
butcher  and  other  elite  of  the  town  to  call  on," 
Ermina  answered,  in  the  same  tone.  "What  ar 
rangement  did  you  make  about  bills,  Helen  ?  " 

"  Don't  ask  me!  "  said  Helen,  in  a  tone  of  dis 
gust.  "  For  pity's  sake  let  me  forget  for  five 
minutes  that  there  is  such  a  thing  as  unpaid 
bills  in  the  world.  I  made  the  only  arrangement 
I  could,  of  course.  Got  them  all  to  wait  another 
month  ;  though  I  felt  tempted  to  ask  them  what 
earthly  good  they  thought  that  would  do  them. 
Unless  some  of  this  horrid  mud  turns  to  money 
or  some  equally  wild  thing  happens,  I  don't 
know  how  they  are  ever  to  get  their  pay." 

"  They  always  do,  though,"  Ermina  said, 
thoughtfully.  "Father  brings  it  about  some 
how." 

"  I  know  he  does,  after  puzzling  and  twisting 
and  borrowing,  until  he  doesn't  know  which  way 
to  turn  next.  Such  work  as  we  have!  I'm  sick 
of  living,  Ermina  !  " 

"Well,"  said  Ermina,  "you  had  better  shut 
that  damper,  because  the  coal  bill  is  increasing 
with  every  lump  that  falls,  and  I'm  afraid  you'll 
be  sicker  of  living  before  it  is  paid.  Come  into 
the  kitchen ;  Maria  is  baking  cookies,  and  I  pre- 


8  Household  Puzzles. 

sume  it  will  be  hot  enough  there  for  you  to  bake 
your  foot  if  you  want  to." 

This  Randolph  family  belonged  to  a  represent 
ative  class.  I  think  when  you  have  made  their 
acquaintance  you  will  be  on  familiar  terms  with 
perhaps  one-third  of  our  American  race.  Fami 
lies  who  live  in  well  appointed  houses,  with  very 
neat  and  appropriate  parlor  furniture,  somewhat 
the  worse  for  wear,  it  is  true,  yet  whose  defects 
are  skillfully  concealed  —  families  who  are  on 
terms  of  intimacy  with  half  the  neighborhood, 
who  are  invited  to  tea  at  Mrs.  Harvey  Smith's 
who  keeps  a  second  girl,  and  lives  in  serene  in- 
differencs  to  her  kitchen  expenses — families  who 
exchange  bows  with  Mrs.  B.  Lawrence  Liver- 
more,  who  lives  on  Belton  Avenue,  and  hardly 
so  much  as  knows  that  she  has  a  kitchen  attached 
to  her  house  —  yet  these  same  families  live  in  a 
state  of  perpetual  unrest  and  unhappiness,  their 
occupation  a  frantic  stretch  at  the  family  purse 
to  make  it  meet  the  necessities,  to  say  nothing 
of  the  comforts  of  life.  Of  this  class  were  the 
Randolphs  —  people  who  sat  down  in  utter  des 
pair  on  Saturday  nights,  who  brooded  over  ways 
and  means  during  all  the  long  Sabbath  day  be 
tween,  faint  efforts  "  not  to  think  their  own 
thoughts,"  and  who  rose  up  to  the  burden  of  life 
again  on  Monday  morning  with  its  problem  ali 
unsolved.  Mr.  Randolph  was  a  merchant  —  at 


"Split  Things."  9 

feast  he  had  been  —  one  of  the  unfortunate, 
struggling,  disappointed  ones,  borrowing  of  this 
friend  to-day  to  meet  the  demands  of  yesterday's 
lender.  With  him  there  had  hardly  been  a  yes 
terday  to  look  back  upon  when  he  was  free  and 
fearless  of  to-morrow's  claims ;  not  at  least  since 
he  was  a  boy,  and  that  he  thought  must  have 
been  a  hundred  years  before.  He  commenced  life 
too  early,  did  Mr.  Joseph  Randolph,  just  as  many 
a  hot  headed  young  American  will  do  after  him. 
It  had  not  always  been  thus  with  his  family; 
they  had  not  known  of  his  struggles ;  pity  they 
had  not.  It  is  not  entirely  the  fault  of  the 
women  that  they  are,  many  of  them,  the  help 
less  extravagant  mortals  that  society  has  made 
them.  The  Randolph  household  had  eaten  and 
drank,  and  slept  and  dressed,  in  blissful  indif 
ference  as  to  how  the  bills  were  paid.  Economi 
cal  they  were  to  a  certain  extent,  at  least  they 
thought  so ;  though  in  these  latter  days  they 
would  have  smiled  over  their  former  ideas  of 
economy.  They  had  never  considered  them' 
selves  wealthy,  indeed  they  always  spoke  of 
themselves  as  poor;  but  a  new  dress  a-piece 
when  they  needed  it,  and  fresh  hats  and  bonnets 
when  the  seasons  changedrand  fresh  gloves  and 
ribbons  and  laces  at  their  pleasure,  this  was 
economy ;  as  for  the  butter  and  sugar  and  meat, 
*•  those  three  awful  whirlpools  into  which  so  much 


10  Household  Puzzle*. 

capital  is  sunken,  Bridget  the  maid  of  all  work, 
attended  to  them,  unmolested  by  any  of  the  fem 
inine  heads  of  the  household.  Ermina  was  only 
sixteen  when  the  change  came ;  first  a  long, 
serious  illness  on  the  father's  part;  then  months 
of  invalidism  for  the  mother:  then  Tom  came 
home  from  college  in  disgrace  and  untold  diffi 
culty,  requiring  among  other  things  much  money 
to  be  raised,  and  suddenly  it  came  to  their 
knowledge  what  the  father  had  known  for  a 
long  time,  that  he  could  not  pay  that  money  nor 
any  other.  It  was  a  very  quietly  managed  mat 
ter.  Mr.  Randolph  could  not  even  fail  on  a 
great  scale ;  the  failure  must  be  third  rate,  as 
his  business  hud  always  been.  There  was  no 
red  flag  or  immense  sacrifice  of  goods;  the  fami 
ly  had  not  even  the  excitement  of  a  great  change 
outwardly  to  involve  and  interest  them.  Mr. 
Randolph  merely  slipped  quietly  and  meekly 
from  his  position  of  master  to  that  of  subordi 
nate.  His  principal  creditor  took  the  business 
entire,  and  the  former  owner  as  his  clerk,  at 
a  fair  enough  salary  for  a  clerk,  but  not  one 
equal  to  supporting  a  family  of  seven.  This, 
then,  was  the  problem  for  the  family  brain,  how 
to  make  a  hundred  dollars  do  five  times  as  much 
as  a  hundred  dollars  will  do,  and  have  a  surplus 
for  incidentals  —  unceasingly  worked  at  it  was, 
but  not  as  yet  solved.  Mrs.  Randolph  helped 


"Split  Things."  11 

feebly  at  it  sometimes,  but  Mrs.  Randolph  had 
no  head  for  figures,  never  had  had  even  when 
she  was  "  parlor  border  in  Madame  La  Blanc's 
seminary."  When  she  said  this  she  always 
sighed.  Mrs.  Randolph  was  one  of  those  unfor 
tunate  beings  who  had  come  down.  Now  that 
is  a  very  difficult  thing  to  do.  You  may  talk  of 
the  impossibility  of  making  a  graceful  ascent 
in  the  social  scale,  but  unless  you  are  a  very  re 
markable  woman  you  will  find  a  graceful  descent 
at  least  equally  difficult.  Mrs.  Randolph,  for  in 
stance,  had  no  real  conception  of  what  economy 
meant.  In  a  general  way  it  meant  to  use  as 
little  point  lace  as  could  be  reasonably  got  along 
with,  and  to  buy  no  new  jewelry  for  awhile; 
but  when  one  never  bought  point  lace  and  jewel 
ry,  how  were  these  rules  to  be  reduced  to  practi 
cal  use  ?  To  Mrs.  Randolph  her  daughters  were 
absolute  wonders;  nothing  that  had  happened  to 
her  girlhood,  sheltered  as  it  was  in  the  home  of  a 
New  York  millionnaire,  where  she  reigned  an 
only  daughter,  could  be  used  to  help  her  house 
hold  in  their  troubles.  The  millionnaire  indeed 
had  gone  to  absolute  ruin  years  ago,  but  not  un 
til  he  had  carefully  finished  itis  daughter's  edu 
cation  in  the  art  of  spending  millions,  and 
married  her  to  a  man  who  had  no  millions  for 
her,  which,  by  the  way,  is  one  of  our  American 
puzzles.  Meantime  she  looked  on  in  helpless 


12  ffoiuekold 


bewilderment,  while  the  young  ladies  turned  and 
and  darned  and  colored,  remarking  now  and  then 
in  a  helpless,  dazed  sort  of  way,  — 

"There's  my  lavender  silk,  girls;  it  is  trimmed 
with  thread  lace.  You  might  do  something  with 
it.  You  do  such  wonderful  things,  all  of  you." 

And  Ermina  would  respond  good-naturedly,  — 

"  Spare  us  that  affliction,  mother,  I  beg,  in  ad 
dition  to  all  our  other  trials.  Don't  send  us  up 
and  down  the  earth  in  a  frantic  hunt  after  some 
thing  that  will  do  to  wear  with  lavender  silks 
and  thread  lace." 

The  young  ladies  were  very  unlike  in  charac- 
acter.  Who  ever  saw  four  young  ladies,  chil 
dren  of  the  same  parentage  though  they  be,  who 
looked  or  acted  alike  in  any  but  minor  points  ? 
Helen  was  the  nominal  head  of  the  party,  being 
one  of  those  persons  who  are  prompt  to  express 
an  opinion  and  act  upon  it,  and  who  get  the 
name  of  being  quick  in  their  conclusions,  noth 
ing  generally  being  said  about  the  amount  of 
time  they  have  to  spend  in  repenting  afterwards. 
So  Helen  did  a  good  deal  of  the  talking;  she 
could  do  it  well.  She  fretted  a  goocf  deal  about 
the  state  of  things;  was  sorely  tried  over  the 
rips  in  her  gloves,  yet  mended  them  faithfully, 
and  made  them  last  just  as  long  as  possible,  and 
made  every  one  aware  that  she  did.  When 
Helen  sacrificed  her  own  convenience  you  were 


"Split  Thing*."  18 

sure  to  know  it;  and  as  she  was  in  a  c*ontinual 
state  of  doing  without  things  that  she  did  not 
want,  there  was  an  uncomfortable  sense  of  mar 
tyrdom  abo\\t  her.  Ermina  took  things  philo 
sophically  ;  the  ragged  glove-fingers,  and  faded 
ribbons,  and  mended  collars,  might  try  her  soul 
us  fully  as  they  did  Helen's,  but  it  was  natural 
for  her  to  be  gravely  comical  over  them  all. 
Surfacely  you  would  have  supposed  Ermina  to 
be  perfectly  indifferent  to  existing  troubles,  that 
is,  as  a  general  thing.  There  came,  howeyer, 
to  her  horrible  days  when  life  was  worse  than 
leaden,  absolutely  black.  Wretched  days  were 
these  in  the  Randolph  household  —  days  to  be 
remembered  and  shivered  over.  There  was  one 
comfort,  they  came  rarely,  and  between  their 
coining  Ermina  tugged  at  the  family  snarl  and 
was  good-natured  over  it.  Grace  was  a  little 
past  seventeen,  was  the  family  beauty,  had  the 
name  of  being  utterly  thoughtless  and  light- 
hearted,  was  merry  and  bright,  and  the  least  bit 
hoydenish  from  morning  to  night,  day  after  day, 
and  week  after  week.  "It  was  a  wonder,*' 
Helen  said  sometimes  "that  she  didn't  think  a 
little.  I'm  sure  I  had  a  great  deal  of  thinking 
and  planning  to  do  at  her  age."  But  on  the 
whole  they  seemed  willing  that  Grace  should  do 
the  laughing  and  merry-making,  and  let  thinking 
alone  ;  nor  ever  noticed  that  Grace's  gloves  had 


14  Household  Puzzlet. 

• 
a  way  of  lasting  longer  than  other  people's,  at 

least  she  applied  less  often  than  the  others  for 
shillings  from  the  carefully  guarded  fund;  that 
the  fashion  of  arranging  her  hair  was  changed 
whimsically  often  they  were  apt  to  discover.  It 
required  closer  sight  to  find  that  when  the 
brown  hair"  ribbon  was  hopelessly  soiled,  a  plain 
black  velvet  band  became  the  style,  and  when 
the  black  velvet  grew  rusty,  severe  simplicity 
suddenly  became  her  best,  and  her  hair  was 
combed  back  straight  and  plain  without  band 
or  bow.  Little  sacrifices,  very  trifles  in  their 
way,  nobody  thought  of  noticing  them.  She 
herself  did  not  name  them  sacrifices,  but  she 
was  very  steady  about  them,  and  if  she  had  been 
one  who  ever  did  any  thinking  they  would  have 
had  the  appearance  of  being  premeditated  and 
systematic. 

The  other  daughter  was  Maria. 


CHAPTER  II. 


EAISINS. 

OW  we  will  go  to  the  kitchen  and  see 
Maria.  You  think  you  know  all  about 
her.  Confess,  oh,  most  wise  and  far-sight 
ed  reader,  that  between  the  time  of  clos 
ing  the  last  chapter  and  opening  this  you 
have  said  something  after  this  wise  :  "  I  know 
what  sort  of  person  Maria  will  be.  She  will  be 
an  old  maid  —  real  old  —  with  a  crooked  nose, 
cross-eyed  very  likely,  and  sour  —  oh,  as  sour  as 
vinegar,  but  gifted  with  all  the  excellencies  in 
the  calender."  Yes  !  Well,  Maria  is  just  exact 
ly  fifteen,  this  happening  to  be  her  birthday. 
She  is  engaged  in  making  cookies,  perhaps  you 
remember,  for  while  we  haVe  been  going  back 
over  the  history  of  the  Randolph  family  for  a 
period  of  forty  years  or  so,  Helen  and  Ermina 
have  made  their  transit  from  sitting-room  to 
kitchen.  Maria  has  her  head  in  the  oven,  her 
curls  are  gathered  into  a  net,  and  the  net  is 

Iff 


16  Household  Puzzle*- 

dusted  with  flour.    -  Maria  always 
thin",  from  her  net  to  her  shoes,     Emma  says, 
^nT  that  is  why  the  ^.**3*2fi 
«  How  nice  and  warm  it  is  here,  •* 

shivering  and  squeezing  between  the  »-all 

th°  Cookies  take  a  fearful  amount  of  wanning 
material,"  Maria  said,  emerging  from  the  ovei 
very  glowing  cheeks,     "That  and  the,, 
durance    are   the   two  faults   they 
vSL  don't  you  think  that  heartless  flour 


have 

r  Helen  said,  in  dismay. 


to  have  told  her,"  she  said. 
«  She  has  the  blues  now,  and  she's  cold.     Inia 
fire  just  suits  her.     She  has  been  wasting  coal  i 
a  i,ckless   manner.     As  many  as   three  pieces 
fell  into  the  grate  while  we  were  there. 
Maria  turned  toward  the  shivering  woman 

hind  the  stove. 

M  Now,  Helen  Randolph  I  "  she  said  m  tragic 
tones,  «  you  haven't  been  and  opened  that  slide  I 
"    "After  all,  it's   not  so  bad  as  your  making 
cookies  out  of  an  empty  flour  barrel,"  laughed 
Ermina,  as  Helen  vouchsafed  neither  wo, 


didn't,"  said  Maria.     «I  have  that  mira 
cle  yet  to  perform  over  the  bread." 


Raisins.  17 

The  outer  door  opened,  and  with  much  stamp 
ing  and  kicking  of  snow  the  son  of  the  house 
came  in.  A  tall,  finely-formed,  fair-faced,  curly- 
headed  young  man —  quite  young  he  was,  hardly 
nineteen,  and  looking  even  younger.  You 
couldn't  help  being  attracted  by  his  face  despite 
a  certain  look  of  recklesness  that  it  had  about  it. 
It  was  one  of  those  faces  that  are  picked  out  in  a 
crowd,  and  a  student  of  human  nature  would 
find  himself  wondering  whether  its  owner  was 
going  to  be  prominent  for  his  good  or  evil  life  — 
prominent  in  some  way  he  was  pretty  likely 
to  be. 

"A  woman's  rights  convention,"  he  said,  toss 
ing  his  cap  on  a  chair  and  taking  a  corner  of  the 
wood -box  for  a  seat.  "What's  the  subject  un 
der  discussion,  feathers  or  flounces  ?  Let  me 
have  the  bearings  of  the  question  and  III  make 
a  telling  speech  on  the  popular  side." 

"  We  have  so  many  of  either  to  discuss," 
Helen  said,  sarcastically.  "  We  are  much  more 
interested  in  hearing  whether  you  have  secured 
that  situation." 

"  Never  a  sign  of  a  situation  has  this  fellow." 

"  Didu't  you  apply  for  it  ?  " 

"I  did,  ma'am,"  rising,  and  making  her  a  pro 
found  bow,  probably  out  of  consideration  for  ^.Ue 
sharpness  of  her  tones. 

"  Then  what  was  in  the  way  ?  " 
2 


18  Household  Puzzles. 

"  Well,  several  things.  I  might  have  been 
too  tall,  for  instance.  He  undoubtedly  observed 
that  it  took  an  unusually  large  pattern  to  make 
me  a  pair  of  pants." 

41 1  wish  we  could  ever  secure  a  sensible  an 
swer  from  you  on  any  subject."  Helen  said  this 
with  increasing  irritation,  and  Ermina  spoke 
eagerly,— 

"  Tom,  do  tell  us  what  was  the  matter.  We 
were  so  certain  that  you  would  succeed  this 
time." 

Thus  appealed  to,  Tom  answered  with  great 
apparent  seriousness, — 

"The  main  difficulty  was  that  he  did  not  seem 
to  appreciate  the  peculiar  cultivation  of  my 
tastes  and  appetites,  and  insisted  on  a  style  of 
article  to  which  I  am  not  accustomed." 

"  What  on  earth  does  he  mean  ?  '*  said  won 
dering  Ermina. 

"  It  is  very  plainly  to  be  seen,  I  should  think." 
This  from  Helen,  in  her  loftiest  tone.  "  He  ob 
jected  to  a  clerk  with  an  everlasting  cigar  in  his 
mouth,  just  as  any  sensible  man  would.  It  has 
turned  out  just  as  I  expected." 

Tom  seemed  immensely  amused.  He  laughed 
until  the  wood-box  beneath  him  shook  in  sym 
pathy. 

"  Upon  my  word,  Helen,"  he  said,  when  he 
speak,  "your  name  ought  to  nave  been 


Raisim.  19 

*«Just  As  I  Expected'  instead  of  'Helen.'  What 
a  vivid  imagination  you  have  !  " 

"  If  I  had  to  depend  on  a  salary  for  a  living  I 
wouldn't  smoke  it  up." 

"Not  until  you  had  one  at  least.  Never  was 
u  fellow  less  likely  to  smoke  up  a  salary  than  I 
am,  so, far  as  I  can  see  at  present." 

"It's  too  bad,  anyway."  began  Helen  again. 
"Poor  father  has  the  burden  of  us  all  resting 
upon  him.  I  wish  /were  a  young  man." 

"  Just  be  the  wife  of  a  young  man,  Helen ; 
that  will  help  father  immensely.  I  might  speak 
to  Horace  about  the  occasion  for  haste  if  you 
would  like  to  have  me." 

Whereupon  Ermina  laughed.  That  girl  al 
ways  had  to  laugh  at  things  which  seemed  to  her 
laughable,  no  matter  what  the  consequences. 
The  consequences  at  this  present  time  were  that 
Helen  flushed  angrily,  and  darted  sharp  glances 
at  her  from  her  very  black  eyes  as  she  said  to  her 
brother, — 

"  If  I  were  reduced  to  the  condition  of  hanger- 
on,  supported  by  my  father,  I  would  at  least  try 
io  be  a  little  less  insulting  to  my  sister." 

Tom  opened  his  mouth  to  speak,  but  Maria 
came  to  the  rescue  with  a  change  of  topic. 

"  Tom,  have  a  cookie  ?  "  And  Tom.  filled  his 
mouth  with  cookie,  arid  was  necessarily  silent. 

"  That's  economical! "  Helen  »aid,  with  energy 


20  Household  Puzzles. 

Whereupon  Tom  laughed  until  he  choked.  The 
conversation  had  suddenly,  taken  a  ludicrous 
form. 

Mrs.  Randolph's  voice  was  heard  in  the  dis 
tance  calling  Ermina,  and  as  she  went  to  answei 
the  summons,  Helen  quietly  departed  by  way  of 
the  hall  door.  Tom  swallowed  his  cookie  and 
seemed  lost  in  a  reverie. 

"  I  did  try  for  the  situation,  Maria,"  he  said  at 
length. 

"  I  know  it,"  said  Maria,  with  her  head  in  the 
oven,  from  whence  she  presently  emerged  with 
the  last  tin  of  cookies.  "  What  was  it  all  about, 
Tom  ?  " 

"  Why,"  said  Tom,  brushing  the  crumbs  of  his 
cookie  into  the  wood-box.  "  the  horrid  old  fellow 
wanted  me  to  sell  wormy  raisins.  I  did  get  the 
place,  you  see,  and  set  to  work  as  large  as  life : 
and  about  the  second  thing  that  happened  was 
Horace  Webster  coming  after  raisins — those 
small,  sticky,  seedless  things,  you  know,  Maria, 
that  look  just  like  a  mess  of  gum  that  somebody 
has  chewed.  Well,  there  were  worms  in  them, 
the  horridest  little  wretches  that  ever  squirmed 
and  I  told  Horace  about  it,  }*ou  know,  just  as 
any  decent  fellow  would.  1  thought  the  box  had 
been  left  open,  and  so  the  raisins  got  spoiled  ;  so 
I  opened  another  box  and  there  were  some  more 
of  the  vile  little  kickers  I  So  Horace  went  away 


Raising.  21 

without  the  raisins,  and  old  Colby  was  in  a  tre 
mendous  rage.  So  \ve  had  a  worm  and  raisin 
talk  ju&t  then  and  there,  and  the  upshot  of  it  all 
was  that  I  came  away  without  my  situation. 
Now  don't  you  see.  I  ought  to  be  put  in  a  Sun 
day-school  book  for  a  good  boy  who  was  a  martyr 
to  my  principles  !  " 

"  I  see,"  Maria  said,  laughing  merrily.  "But, 
Tom,  why  couldn't  you  have  told  the  girls  about 
it  just  as  you  have  me,  instead  of  talking  such 
nonsense?" 

"  There's  a  difference  between  you  and  the 
girls,  you  see.  Did  you  believe  the  nonsense 
that  I  told  them  ?  " 

"  No,  of  course  I  didn't." 

"  But  they  did,  you  see ;  and  therein  lies  the 
difference  between  you.  There  is  no  use  in  ex 
plaining  things  to  them,  when  people  think  you 
are  the  worst  fellow  in  town.  Let  them  think,  / 
say,  if  it's  such  a  comfort  to  'em." 

"They  don't  think  anything  of  the  kind  ;  and 
you  were  rude  to  Helen,  you  know." 

"Not  till  she  was  rude  to  me,  though ;  be 
sides,  she  ought  to  be  as  good  as  gold,  no  matter 
what  I  was  —  she  professes  to  be  so  good,  you 
see,  and  I  don't." 

"  Because  she  isn't  always  what  she  professes 
is  no  reason  why  you  should  be  as  wicked  as  you 
can." 


22  Household  Puzzlet. 

"  Look  here,  Maria,  don't  you  take  up  preach 
ing ;    two  of  that  profession  are  enough  in  one 
family.     Helen  and  Ermina  are  equal  to  all  that 
is  needed  in  that  line." 

Maria  laughed  good-naturedly. 

"  I'm  not  preaching,"  she  said,  "  I'm  talking 
common  sense.  You  make  too  much  of  what 
Helen  says.  I  don't  mind  her  in  the  least.  She 
is  tired  this  morning.  She  has  been  out  on  very 
ugly  business,  trying  to  pay  bills  without  any 
money ;  and  besides,  Tom,  the  flour  barrel  is 
empty,  and  naturally  enough,  she  is  worried  as 
to  how  it  is  going  to  be  filled." 

"  Why  don't  she  have  faith  ?  "  Tom  said,  with 
sober  face  and  a  gleam  of  mischief  in  his  bright 
brown  eyes ;  "  she  believes  that  all  things  work 
together  for  her  good,  and,  unless  she  considers 
it  for  her  personal  advantage  to  be  starved,  she 
must  think  that  the  barrel  will  be  filled  some 
how." 

"  Of  course  it  will  be  filled  ;  but  it's  not  very 
pleasant  to  think  that  Mr.  Hammond  will  never 
be  paid  for  it ;  and  I  don't  see  any  way  to  pay 
him." 

"  I  don't  know  about  that,"  Tom  said,  medi 
tatively  ;  "  if  it's  for  his  good  to  be  paid  —  why, 
he  will  be,  won't  he?  Isn't  that  the  doctrine? 
And  if  it  isn't  for  his  good,  ought  we  to  wish 
him  to  receive  evil?  Isn't  it  a  delicious  muddle, 
Maria?  I  declare  it  is  just  ludicrous." 


Raisins.  23 

"  One  would  think  that  you  had  a  very  differ 
ent  father  from  the  one  that  you  have,"  said 
Maria,  with  great  gravity.  "  You  don't  suppose 
his  religion  is  all  pretense,  do  you  ?  " 

"  One  would  think  you  were  my  grandmother, 
at  the  very  least,"  Tom  said,  half  in  mockery 
ani  half  testily.  "  I  don't  pretend  to  think  that 
any  of  it  is  pretense.  I  only  say  that  you  and  I 
have  said  a  hundred  times,  that  it  is  a  contradic 
tion  and  confusion,  so  far  as  my  brain  can  follow 
it.  There's  Helen,  and  Ermina,  and  Grace,  and 
you.  Now,  suppose  you  ask  father  which  ones 
are  helps  and  comforts  to  him.  You  are  not  so 
lowly-minded  but  that  you  see  for  yourself  that 
father  depends  on  you  to  manage  things,  and  to 
help  generally,  and  that  Grace  is  comfortable  to 
have  around  him.  As  for  Helen  and  Ermina, 
the  sooner  they  are  married  and  settled  the  more 
comfortable  father  will  be ;  and  yet  those  two 
profess  to  have  something  to  help  them  in  their 
every-day  affairs,  and  you  and  Grace  have  to 
help  yourselves.  A  fellow  can't  help  thinking 
that  things  are  mixed." 

"  MJT  cookies  are  —  and  baked,"  was  Maria's 
prompt  response ;  "  for  which  I  am  duly  thank 
ful.  It's  time  for  potatoes  and  onions  now,  and 
you  know  you  hate  the  smell  of  onions,  though  I 
think  myself  they  are  superior  to  tobacco ;  otic 
on  the  whole,  I  would  advise  you  to  leave. 


24  Household  Punk*. 

Don't  go  to  supposing  that  I  don't  understand 
and  appreciate  your  harangue,  and  I  don't  see 
through  things  any  better  than  you  do  —  the 
only  difference  is,  that  I  don't  see  any  use  in 
trying  to  see  what  I  can't  see.  Only  I  do  think 
that  you  are  h;ird  on  Helen.  She  tries  to  help, 
and  she  economizes ;  and  she  has  been  out  in  all 
this  snow,  looking  for  drawing  scholars." 

Tom  whistled. 

"  Why  didn't  you  go  out  and  look  for  French 
scholars  and  let  the  cookies  slide,"  he  said,  sol 
emnly. 

"Now,  Tom,  what's  the  use  of  talking  so. 
Helen  can't  make  cookies,  nor  peel  onions ;  she 
just  doesn't  know  how.  There  are  things  that 
she  could  do  if  she  had  the  opportunity." 

"  So  there  are  things  that  I  could  do.  I 
could  take  a  sleigh  ride,  or  go  skating,  or  eat 
a  turkey  —  a  good  share  of  one,  anyhow;  all 
I  lack  is  opportunity.  Yet  Helen  wanted  me  to 
leave  these  things  that  I  know  I  can  do,  and  try 
to  sell  tobacco  and  things." 

"You  are  too  absurd,"  laughed  Maria.  "You 
know  very  well  that  Helen  could  teach  drawing 
if  she  only  had  some  scholars.  How  can  she 
help  it  if  there  are  none  to  be  found  ?  " 

"  How  much  shoe  leather  is  she  going  to 
waste  hunting  afler  them?  One  would  think 
*he  might  have  decided  about  a  year  ago  that 


Raisins.  25 

they  were  not  available  material.  I  know  a  few 
things  that  you  could  do  if  you  had  a  chance* 
You  could  walk  through  algebra  and  geometry 
and  Latin  with  great  pleasure.  Why  don't  you 
sit  down  behind  the  stove  and  glower  because 
you  can't  devote  yourself  to  such  pursuits  in 
stead  of  to  onions  ?  Oh,  how  they  smell." 

"  It  just  resolves  itself  into  this,  Tom  ;  if  you 
can't  get  the  situation  in  the  bank  that  you 
wanted  —  why,  you  are  willing  to  sell  tobacco." 

"  But  not  worms,"  Tom  interrupted. 

"  Well,  since  you  can't  get  an  opportunity  to 
sell  tobacco  without  worms,  why  don't  you  try 
for  a  job  at  wood-sawing,  for  instance  ?  " 

Whereupon  Tom  whistled  a  little,  and  then 
was  silent.  After  a  little  either  the  argument  or 
the  onions  were  too  much  for  him,  and  he  left 
Maria  in  solitary  possession  of  the  kitchen. 


CHAPTER  III. 

TWO  PETERS. 

T  family  worship  that  evening  the  Ran 
dolph  household  were  all  together. 
They  had  a  very  pleasant  custom  of 
coming  together  for  this  service,  imme 
diately  after  tea.  Mrs.  Randolph  sat  in 
the  low  rocker  in  front  of  the  stove,  with  her 
feet  on  the  hearth,  and  around  her  shoulders  a 
small  bright  shawl.  She  nearly  always  sat  with 
her  feet  on  the  hearth  and  a  shawl  around  her. 
She  shivered  occasionally,  which  was  also  a 
habit  of  hers.  She  was  a  frail,  fair  little 
woman  ;  a  few  lines  were  on  her  forehead  and 
about  her  month,  brought  there  by  her  hopeless 
attempts  to  *o~mi  at  tho  f&jaiiy  problem ;  her 
pretty  gray  hair  waved  gracefully  above  the  low 
forehead ;  her  collar  was  a  bit  of  rare  lace, 
remains  of  her  early  grandeur  ;  and  her  alpaca 
wrapper  was  faced  with  pretty  plaid  »ilk  —  this, 
also,  was  a  remnant  of  early  days.  Altogether 


Two  Peters.  27 

she  seemed  a  dainty,  well  preserved  picture 
of  an  effeminate,  loving,  lovable  woman.  How 
it  happened  that  she  was  mother  to  five  hearty, 
strong-limbed,  strong-willed  beings  was  a  puzzle 
to  some  people.  It  spoke  well  for  the  heart 
of  the  Randolph  juniors  that  they  had,  every 
one,  a  petting,  protective  care  over  this  mother. 
Tom  might  be  rude  to  Helen,  and  wild  with 
every  one  of  them,  yet  his  voice  invariably  put 
on  a  caress  when  it  addressed  the  little  mother. 
Father  Randolph  sat  apart  from  the  others  and 
took  up  the  family  Bible  immediately,  as  if  he 
either  had  no  time  to  tarry,  or  else  no  heart  to 
bring  to  the  household  reunion.  He  was  a  tall, 
thin,  pale  man,  with  deep-set,  earnest  eyes,  and 
a  sensitive,  finely  cut  mouth.  He  had  not  hand 
led  the  problem  with  gloved  fingers;  he  had 
tugged  at  it,  wrestled  with  it,  sometimes  with 
fierce  and  determined  energy,  and  yet  it  had  con 
quered  him ;  and  there  was  that  in  the  sunken 
eyes  which  said,  "  I  am  vanquished ;  the  battle 
was  too  fierce  for  me.  I  have  failed."  Grace 
sat  at  the  piano.  The  young  ladies  of  this 
family  played  the  piano  —  as  well  educated  young 
ladies  should  —  that  is,  they  played  at  it.  None 
of  them  had  that  beautiful  gift  for  it  which  we 
call  genius.  Helen,  in  her  childhood,  had  either 
to  be  driven  or  coaxed  to  her  practice  hour.  Er- 
mina  had  gone  through  the  ordeal  more  bravely, 


28  Household  Puzzle*. 

simply  because  of  her  talent  for  yielding  to  the 
inevitable.  Later  in  life  —  in  their  early  young 
ladyhood  —  they  had  been  comparatively  faith 
ful,  because  "  everybody  played,"  and  of  course 
they  must;  and  their  father,  so  long  as  they  had 
the  money  to  do  it  with,  had  unflinchingly  paid 
Professor  Fero's  awful  bills,  because  he  had  been 
educated  to  believe  that  "  they  "  would  think  it 
strange  if  his  daughters  did  not  take  lessons. 
Grace  had  never  accomplished  much  with  Pro 
fessor  Fero.  They  did  not  get  on  well  together, 
and,  by  means  best  known  to  her  father  and  her 
self,  she  early  escaped  from  his  tuition.  Yet 
Grace  was  the  only  one  who  could  play,  at 
family  worship,  the  sweet  and  tender  hymns  that 
her  father  invariably  selected.  I  said  the  young 
ladies  played.  Peihaps  at  fifteen  Maria  is  not  to 
be  counted  under  that  term.  Maria  did  not  play 
at  all.  Great  was  the  little  mother's  consternation 
when  she  announced  her  determination  never  to 
take  A  music  lesson.  What  would  "  they  "  think? 
she  plaintively  asked  her  daughter ;  but  that 
daughter  being  hopelessly  indifferent  to  "their" 
opinion,  persisted  in  her  headstrong  course,  af 
firming  that  there  wasn't  even  any  "drumative" 
powers  in  her;  and  her  father,  taking  secret 
pride  in  his  youngest  daughter's  determined  spirit,, 
recognizing  a  something  akin  to  one-half  of  his 
own  nature,  upheld  her  in  her  decision,  and 


Two  Peter*.  29 

thereby  several  hundred  dollars  were  saved. 
Grace  waited  at  the  piano  while  her  father  read 
aloud  one  of  his  favorite  hymns. 

"  "When  gloomy  clouds  across  the  sky 

Cast  shadows  o'er  the  land, 
Bright  scenes  of  bliss  illume  my  path, 
For  Jesus  holds  iny  hand. 
Safe  will  be  my  rest, 
"With  his  presence  blest, 
If  on  sea  or  land 
Jesus  holds  my  hand." 

Tom,  meantime,  with  his  chair  tilted  back 
against  the  wall,  listened  and  made  his  mental 
observations.  There  was  one  other  person,  who 
for  the  time  being,  belonged  to  the  household: 
young  Peter  Armstrong,  who  was  errand-boy  in 
general  in  Mr.  Freeman's  factory ;  and  it  suited 
Mr.  Freeman's  convenience  to  have  Peter  boarded 
at  his  neighbor  Mr.  Randolph's.  "  Just,  as  a  mat 
ter  of  accommodation,"  Helen  was  wont  to  ex 
plain,  not  with  intentional  uutruthfulness,  but 
with  that  long-cultivated  habit  of  smoothing  over 
family  matters.  "Just  because  we  like  the 
money  that  he  pays  regularly  every  Saturday 
night,"  the  more  strictly  truthful  Maria  would 
add  when  opportunity  offered. 

Peter  Armstrong  wore  his  pants  tucked  inside 
his  boots,  and  his  jacket  was  patched  at  the 
elbows;  also,  he  never  had  his  hair  parted 
evenly,  and  often  forgot  to  part  it  at  all.  He 


80  Household  Puzzlet. 

was  one  of  Helen's  trials.  She  considered  it 
very  queer  in  him  to  want  to  come  in  the  parlor 
to  prayers.  It  was  certainly  rather  awkward; 
suppose  somebody  should  call! 

However,  Peter  did  most  decidedly  like  to 
come  in  to  prayers,  .and  it  suited  Mr.  Randolph 
to  have  him  come,  and  he  sat,  on  this  particular 
evening,  near  Maria,  who  was  his  firm  friend  and 
ally,  and  joined  a  very  low  voice  to  the  singing. 
After  which,  Mr.  Randolph  read,  in  subdued, 
sad  tone,  the  psalm  commencing,  "  He  that 
dwelleth  in  the  secret  place  of  the  Most  High 
shall  abide  under  the  shadow  of  the  Almighty. 
I  will  say  of  the  Lord,  He  is  my  refuge  and  my 
fortress :  my  God ;  in  him  will  I  trust."  On 
through  the  blessed  triumph  of  faith  and  truth 
embodied  in  the  psalm  read  Mr.  Randolph. 
There  was  no  change  in  the  sadness  of  his  voice, 
and  if  the  lines  on  his  face  became  less  drawn, 
the  change  was  too  slight  for  Tom  to  discover  it. 
He  looked  at  his  mother.  She  was  yawning  be 
hind  her  thin  hand  and  looked  too  sleepy  to  heed 
what  was  being  read.  Helen  had  discovered  a 
rip  in  her  best  gaiter,  and -was  looking  down  at 
it  with  frowning  face.  "  I'll  wager  a  box  of 
cigars  that  she  hasn't  heard  a  word  father  has 
said,"  was  his  mental  comment,  and  he  turned 
his  attention  to  Ermina.  That  young  lady  was 
stretching  her  neck  out  of  the  window  to  look 


Two  Peters.  81 

after  the  movements  of  Sarah  Freeman,  who  was 
passing  on  the  other  side  of  the  street.  A  wicked 
laugh  shone  all  over  Tom's  face,  his  eyes  danced, 
and  it  was  with  difficulty  that  he  could  restrain 
himself  from  whistling,  so  certain  was  he  that 
four  who  professed  to  be  guided  by  the  words  of 
inspiration  were  totally  indifferent  to  their  import 
now ;  and  then  he  chanced  to  glance  at  the 
rough-looking  boy  who  sat  next  to  Maria.  There 
was  an  air  of  reverent  attention  about  his  face, 
and  withal  such  deep  and  solemn  appreciation  of 
the  holy  words,  that  Tom's  face  instantly  sobered. 
"  That  fellow  thinks  he  knows  what  ail  that  is 
about.  I  wonder  if  he  really  does  ?  I  declare 
his  face  fairly  shines,  and  he's  a  dull  sort  of  fel 
low,  too,  I  always  thought.  I  just  wonder,  now, 
if  he  does  get  something  from  the  reading  that  I 
don't?" 

" '  He  shall  call  upon  me,  and  I  will  answer 
him ;  I  will  be  with  him  in  trouble ;  I  will 
deliver  him,  and  honor  him,' "  read  Mr.  Ran 
dolph.  "  That  is  a  precious  promise,"  he  said, 
and  Tom,  turning  suddenly  to  him  found  that 
the  heavy  lines  were  smoother,  and  something  in 
his  prayer  made  his  son  think  that  he,  too,  had 
gotten  hold  of  the  inner  meaning,  if  there  wns 
one.  .There  was  always  that  troublesome  "if" 
coming  in  to  perplex  Tom  Randolph. 

They  scattered   their   various   ways    directly 


82  Household  Puzzle*. 

after  the  prayer.  Tom,  intent  upon  the  thought 
that  Peter  had  suggested  to  his  iniud,  followed 
him  through  the  kitchen. 

"  What  are  you  going  to  do  ?  "  he  queried  of 
Peter,  in  the  absence  of  any  thing  better  to 
say. 

"  Nothing  particular.  I've  got  it  all  done  for 
to-night,"  was  Peter's  somewhat  ungrammatical 
reply.  "  I'll  help  fix  the  kindlings  and  things, 
if  you  like." 

This  last  was  a  very  satisfactory  sentence  to 
Maria,  for  Tom  was  so  much  given  to  waiting 
for  convenient  seasons  for  preparing  kindlings 
that  it  often  fell  to  her  lot  to  split  a  bit  of  board 
for  herself  as  best  she  could.  Thus  admonished 
Tom  repaired  to  the  woodshed  and  commenced 
a  vigorous  attack  on  the  woodpile,  preparing, 
meantime,  to  attack  Peter  Armstrong  and  find 
the  meaning  of  that  reverent  face. 

"  Did  you  notice  the  words  that  father  read 
this  evening  ?  "  he  asked,  at  last,  plunging  into 
the  midst  of  the  subject. 

"Did  I  notice  them?"  repeated  Peter,  driv 
ing  his  axe  into  a  knotty  stick.  "I  reckon  I 
did." 

"  What  did  you  think  of  them  ?  " 

"  Thought  they  were  true." 

This  answer  Tom  revolved  for  some  minutes 
in  surprised  silence,  it  was  such  a  strange  thing 


Two  Petert.  83 

to  hear  a  simple  expression  of  belief  in  anything. 
His  college  bred  ears  were  unused  to  it. 

"  Do  you  mean  to  say  that  you  feel  just  as 
that  expressed,"  he  said  at  last,  returning  to  the 
charge.  "  Like,  for  instance,  that  verse,  '  There 
shall  be  no  evil  befall  thee  — and  —  well,  some 
thing  else..  I  don't  remember  the  rest.  But  do 
you  pretend  to  say  that  you  are  not  afraid  of 
anything  happening  to  you  any  more  ?" 

"'Not  that  exactly,"  Peter  said,  slowly  and 
thoughtfully.  "  I  meant,  I  believed  that  people 
could  feel  so;  could  be  sure,  you  know,  that 
everything  was  just  right.  If  I  was  as  good, 
now,  as  the  man  who  wrote  that  verse  I  could 
feel  it." 

"  Pooh !  "  said  Tom,  contemptuously,  "  he 
wasn't  very  good.  I  happen  to  know  something 
about  him.  He  did  several  things  that  weren't 
.exactly  perfect." 

"  Most  people  do,"  Peter  said,  splitting  a 
stick  into  delightful  kindling  wood. 

"Then  nobody  is  good,  it  seems.  So  what 
does  your  explanation  amount  to?" 

"  It  amounts  to  their  trying  after  it  pretty 
hard." 

"  And  never  getting  there,"  said  Tom,  paus 
ing  in  his  splitting.  "  I  should  think  that  was 
pretty  stupid  business,  always  trying  after  a 
thing  and  never  getting  it ;  never  being  satisfied 
3 


34  Household  Puzzles. 

with  one's  self,  even  after  one  bad  tried.  What 
is  the  use  ?  " 

44  They  do  get  satisfied,"  Peter  said,  earnestly. 
"There's  a  verse  your  father  read  yesterday 
morning,  'I  shall  be  satisfied  when  I  awake  with 
thy  likeness.'  Then's  when  it  is." 

Tom  whistled. 

44  That's  a  long  time  to  wait,"  he  said,  with  a 
queer  little  laugh. 

"  Maybe  not." 

44  Anyhow,  a  fellow  is  perfectly  willing  to 
wait;  that's  a  time  that  a  body  don't  like  to 
think  about." 

44 1  do,"  Peter  said,  splitting  vigorously.  "  I 
like  it  first  rate.  It  is  my  opinion  it  will  be 
a  splendid  time." 

Tom  laughed  immoderately,  and  then  sat 
down  on  a  stick  of  wood  to  meditate. 

44 Peter,"  said  he,  presently,  "it's  my  opinion 
that  you  are  not  much  like  your  namesake." 

44 My  namesake!  Who  is  he?  1  don't  know 
another  Peter  anywhere  around." 

44  He  isn't  4  around,'  but  he  was  once,  consid 
erably." 

44  Peter  who  ?  " 

44  Ah  1  there  you  have  me.  I'll  be  hanged  if 
I  ever  even  heard  of  his  other  name.'' 

44  And  you  knew  him  ?  " 

44  Well,  not  intimately,  except  by  reputation. 


Tom  laughed,  and  sat  down  on  a  stick  of  wood. 


Two  Peters.  85 

You  see,  he  was  rather  before  my  time.  I'm 
talking  about  the  individual  who  had  so  much  to 
•ay  in  Bible  times." 

u  Is  there  a  Peter  in  the  Bible  ?  "  queried  Pe 
er  Armstrong,  pausing  in  his  work  and  speaking 
with     animation.       Whereupon    Tom     laughed 
Icuder  and  longer  than  before. 

"  You  needn't  laugh,"  his  companion  said, 
with  gravity.  "Though  I  suppose  it  is  queer 
not  to  know  things.  BuC  I  never  had  a  Bible  of 
my  own  until  a  few  weeks  ago,  and  I  don't 
remember  reading  anything  about  any  Peter  in 
it.  I  do  know  that  there  is  a  book  in  it  named 
Peter ;  did  he  write  the  book  ?  " 

u  I  think  it  is  altogether  likely  that  he  did, 
though  I'm  not  very  well  posted." 

"  Well,  I  mean  to  know  more  about  the  Bible 
one  of  these  days.  I  never  went  to  Sunday- 
school  till  I  come  to  this  town  to  live.  I  never 
went  much  of  anywhere,  I  tell  you  now!  A 
chance  is  a  good  deal  to  a  fellow,  and  I  missed 
mine  ;  but  I'm  going  to  get  along  wi.bout  it  the 
best  I  can." 

"  I've  missed  mine,  too."  Tom  said  it  a  little 
bitterly.  "  You're  just  as  well  off  without  it. 
Chances  ruin  fellows,  sometimes ;  mine  did  me  " 

*•  Ain't  you  rather  young  to  be  ruined  ?  " 

This  question  seemed  to  amuse  Tom  immense 
ly.  He  went  off  into  another  hearty  laugh. 


86  Household  Puzzles. 

"  I  declare,  I  don't  know  but  you're  like  him 
in  some  things,"  he  said,  when  he  could  speak. 

"  What  about  him  ?  what  did  he  do  ?  " 

"Oh,  my!  Don't  ask  me.  What  didnt  he 
do  ?  He  was  an  irrepressible  fellow,  I  tell  you  ; 
always  doing  something.  I  advise  you  to  mako 
his  acquaintance." 

"  I  shall,"  said  Peter  Armstrong,  with  a  de 
termined  thud  of  his  axe  into  the  knotty  stick  be 
fore  him ;  and  Mr.  Thomson  Randolph  knew 
just  about  as  much  what  his  gay  words  had 
accomplished  for  Peter  Armstrong's  future  life 
as  the  most  of  us  know  what  our  words  are 
going  to  do  for  us  or  others. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THEORY. 

if  HERE  was  a  storm  without ;  a  regular 
January  storm  —  wind,  and  snow,  and 
gloom.  The  sitting-room  was  cosy  and 
bright,  or  would  have  been  but  for  the 
solemn  faces  gathered  there.  The  wind 
was  so  high  that  ordinary  comfort  absolutely  de 
manded  the  opening  of  the  slide,  despite  the 
frightful  waste  of  coal  ;  so  the  stove  glowed. 
So  did  Helen's  face  ;  not  because  of  the  .warmth 
of  the  room  so  much  as  of  the  fire  within.  Hel 
en  was  in  absolute  ill  humor.  Some  heavy  trial 
had  evidently  crossed  her  path.  She  sewed 
industriously,  but  with  that  ominous  click  of  the 
needle  against  her  thimble,  and  an  angry  snip 
ping  of  her  thread  by  the  pert  little  scissors,  that 
plainly  indicated  a  disturbed  state  of  mind. 
Ermina  sewed  too,  but  in  a  listless,  weary,  look 
out- of-the- window  manner  that  did  not  partic- 

87 


88  ffou**lolJ 


ularly  advance  the  hemming.     Occasionally  she 
grumbled  at  her  cruel  f.ue  in  having  to  hem 
at  all.      It  would  look   ever   so   much   K 
stitched  lied  every  thing  now-a-days» 

anylunv.      And    ev,  that   trot   anybody 

mn\  had  amachr.  those  Paddocks 

across  the  way,  poor  as  church  mice,  had  a  Gio- 
ver  Jt  Baker  machine. 

:t  she  earned  it.  Ermine,  taking  iu  |>l«in 
ng  —  i  ;irl    did,    1    mean;    that 

one  who  sits  at  the  end  window  so  much." 

This  from  Grace,  in  deprecating  tone,  as 
if  half  ashamed  at  herself  for  taking  the  part 
of  "those  Paddock 

You  seem   to  be  very  familiar  with  their 
affairs.     Are   the   Paddocks   supposed   to   be 
urs?** 

Helen's  tone  was  sarcasm  itself. 

"  Why,  I  see  Alice  Paddock  every  Sunday  in 
Bible-class,  and  occasionally  \re  walk  home  to 
gether.  Of  course  we  have  to  talk  a  little.** 

"  Where  would  be  the  harm,  if  they  were 
friends  ?  "  Ermina  said,  being  in  a  belligerent 
mood. 

u  Oh,  no  farm,  certainly,  if  there  is  a  congen 
iality  between  them  1  should  imagine  that 
there  miglxt  have  been  some  difference  in  their 
education  and  surroundii 

"  Alice  Paddock  is  a  real  sensible  girl." 


Theory.  89 

This  was  Grace's  final  sentence,  for  she  turned 
to  the  piano  and  began  her  drumming. 

Helen  jerked  her  thread  through  the  cloth 
in  expressive  silence. 

"  Where  is  Maria  ? "  questioned  Ermina  at 
last. 

"  Gone  after  sugar,"  Grace  said,  from  the 
piano. 

"  Jt  seems  to  me  that  Maria  is  always  gone 
after  sugar,"  said  Ermina,  with  a  sharp  laugh. 
t%  The  grocers  will  think  that  is  the  chief  of  our 
diet.  I  wonder  where  so  much  sugar  goes  to? 
And  we  never  have  much  of  anything  to  eat, 
either." 

Mrs.  Randolph  sighed. 

"  I  never  had  to  go  for  sugar  in  my  life,"  she 
said,  plaintively. 

'•iX'or  to  turn  dresses  inside  out,  I  presume?" 
Helen  said,  eyeing  her  work  with  disdain. 

"No,  never!"  Mrs.  Randolph  answered  sol 
emnly. 

Helen  interrupted  the  musician. 

"  What  do  you  propose  to  wear  to  that  absurd 
party  ?  " 

"  Why,  my  blue  skirt  and  polonaise,  I  sup 
pose.  That  is  all  I  have,  you  know." 

"  Then  1  should  certainly  have  sense  enough 
to  stay  at  home.  You  look  like  a  dowdy  iw 
that." 


40  HoH#ko!d  Pwuk*. 

Grace  laughed  cheerily. 

44  Now,  I  think  I  look  very  nice,"  she  said, 
brightly. 

'•It's  well  to  hare  a  good  opinion  of  one's 
self." 

This  Helen  said,  speaking  very  sharply.  Mrs. 
Randolph  looked  distressed,  her  eldest  daughter 
was  a  trial  and  a  puzzle  to  her.  She  never 
spoke  sharply,  nor  hid  covert  double  meanings 
inside  her  words. 

Helen  had  most  of  the  conversation  to  herself!. 
No  one  seemed  inclined  to  talk. 

**  I  would  have  a  little  respect  for  my  own  sis* 
ters,  if  Mrs.  Marshall  had  none,*'  she  commenced 
again,  as  the  tone  of  Grace's  music  lulled  a  little. 
'•If  she  doesn't  know  that  she  is  very  rude,  I 
would  endeavor  to  teach  her  something." 

M  Helen  Randolph,  what  are  you  talking 
about?" 

This  from  Ermina,  spoken  somewhat  snappish- 

lj- 

M I  was  speaking  of  Mrs.  Marshall.     I  thought 

I  spoke  with  sufficient  distinctness  to  be  under 
stood.  Mother,  is  that  your  idea  of  politeness  — 
to  invite  one  daughter,  and  she  almost  the 
youngest,  and  ignore  the  existence  of  the 
others?" 

The  distressed  look  on  Mrs.  Randolph's  face 
deepened. 


Theory.  41 

**  Why,  I  don't  know,"  she  said,  hesitatingly. 
"I  had  no  sisters,  you  remember.  Bat  Judge 
Harlowe's  family  lived  just  across  from  us,  and 
the  two  young  ladies  almost  never  went  out  to 
gether.  I  have  known  Carrie  to  go  to  a  large 
party  and  Susie  to  go  to  prayer-meeting  on  the 
same  evening.  Tes,  Helen,  I  really  think  it  used 
to  be  done  by  the  very  first  families." 

Helen  bit  off  her  thread  with  an  impatient 
jerk.  Evidently  her  mother's  lapse  into  the  past 
disturbed  her. 

"  I  shouldn't  allow  Grace  to  go  out  this  evening, 
anyway,  if  I  were  you.  It  storms  furiously,  and 
there  is  every  indication  that  the  storm  will  in* 
crease,"  she  said,  emphatically. 

She  had  touched  the  right  chord  at  last.  Mrs. 
Randolph  was  personally  very  susceptible  to 
changes  in  the  weather,  and  imagined  all  her 
children  to  be  equally  so.  She  roused  into  some 
thing  very  like  energy  and  poor  Grace's  chances 
for  an  evening  entertainment  were  diminishing. 
At  this  opportune  moment  there  occurred  a  break 
in  the  discussion.  Maria  came  in,  fresh  from  the 
outside  world,  with  glowing  cheeks  and  energetic 
movements. 

"  How  warm  you  are  here,"  she  said,  and  gave 
the  slide  a  push.  "Mother,  your  cheeks  are 
becomingly  rosy.  I  think  you  must  look  just  as 
yon  did  the  evening  father  tells  about —  the  fiist 


42  Household  Puzzles. 

time  he  ever  saw  you.  Grace,  don't  thump  now, 
I  want  to  talk.  Helen,  did  you  know  Mrs.  Mon 
roe  was  going  to  have  company  to-night?" 

Helen  gave  a  visible  start,  and  her  flushed 
cheek  turned  a  deeper  red,  but  she  controlled  her 
voice  to  answer,  with  dignity, — 

"  I  know  nothing  about  Mrs.  Monroe's  move 
ments.  She  may  have  company  every  evening  in 
the  week." 

"  I  can't  say  as  to  that.  I'm  only  speaking  for 
this  evening.  I  met  her  in  the  store.  I  told  her 
1  was  certain  you  knew  nothing  about  it,  and  she 
said  she  was  certain  you  did,  for  she  sent  you  a 
note  this  morning  by  little  Kate.  But  I  felt  per 
fectly  certain  that  little  Kate  had  not  delivered 
it,  and  told  her  so ;  and  she  entreated  me  to  see 
about  it  the  minute  I  reached  home,  and  assure 
you  that  she  was  depending  on  you.  Half  a 
dozen  friends  to  tea  at  seven.  That  means  at 
least  thirty  friends,  and  tea  at  nine  ;  but  I  didn't 
tell  her  that.  I  only  assured  her  that  I  would 
do  my  best  to  retrieve  little  Kate's  blunders." 

"  Didn't  she  say  anything  about  me  ?  "  inter 
posed  Ermina,  quickly. 

"  Not  the  first  thing." 

"  How  excessively  rude !  Helen,  if  she  has  no 
rsspect  for  your  sisters,  and  doesn't  know  that 
she  is  rude,  I  would  endeavor  to  teach  her." 

Helen's  face  was  scarlet. 


Theory.  43 

"  At  least  she  had  propriety  enough  to  invite 
the  eldest  instead  of  the  youngest,"  she  said, 
coldly. 

"  Such  an  awful  storm  as  it  is,"  continued 
Ermina,  "  and  likely  to  increase  by  evening. 
Mother,  you  won't  think  of  letting  Helen  go?" 

A  rarely  good  quality  had  Helen.  When  the 
laugh  was  manifestly  against  her,  if  meantime  her 
own  prospects  had  brightened,  so  that  she  could 
afford  to  laugh  too,  she  made  no  effort  to  hold  on 
to  and  nurse  her  ill-humor,  but  joined  merrily  in 
the  merriment  at  her  own  expense ;  so  she  made 
merriment  in  the  household  by  suddenly  joining 
in  the  ringing  laugh  with  which  Grace  greeted 
Ermina's  words,  and  the  little  frail  mother  looked 
with  puzzled  face  from  one  to  the  other  of  her 
four  daughters,  thought  for  the  twentieth  time 
that  they  were  all  enigmas  to  her,  then  smoothed 
the  wrinkles  from  her  forehead,  and  laughed 
pleasantly  with  the  rest.  It  was  in  this  fortunate 
mood  that  the  awful  puzzle  of  dress  came  up.  I 
wonder  if  there  is  a  woman  in  America,  who,  the 
question  of  going  or  not  going  being  settled  iu 
the  affirmative,  does  not  think  next,  What  shall 
I  wear? 

"  I've  a  great  mind  not  to  go,  after  all,"  Helen 
said,  the  gloom  returning.  "  Nothing  decent  to 
wear.  The  rest  will  be  dressed  in  black  silk  at 
the  very  least." 


44  Household  Puzzle*. 

"  You  might  wear  my  polonaise  if  I  were  not 
going  out."  This  from  Grace,  who  had  given  up 
all  attempts  at  thumping. 

"Aren't  you  afraid  she  would  look  like  a 
dowdy  in  it?"  queried  Ermina. 

"  Why,  no,"  laughed  Grace.  "  She  didn't  say 
she  would  look  like  a  dowdy.  I  think  myself  it 
is  quite  becoming  to  her ;  and  to  me  too,  for  that 
matter." 

Meantime  Helen  had  had  opportunity  to  run 
over  the  articles  in  her  somewhat  limited  ward 
robe,  and  was  back  in  the  depths  of  ill  humor. 

"What's  the  use  of  talking  such  nonsense!" 
she  said,  in  intense  disgust.  "  You  are  going 
out,  and  that  settles  the  whole  question.  I  don't 
mean  to  go  a  step.  I  haven't  the  least  desire  to 
go  out  in  company,  if  I  can't  go  without  being 
the  subject  of  remark." 

"  Isn't  your  black  silk  suitable,  dear  ?"  This 
in  a  meek  voice  from  Mrs.  Randolph. 

"Suitable!  I  should  think  not.  Why,  mother, 
the  overskirt  is  a  third  longer  than  they  wear 
them  now.  They  don't  wear  overskirts  much 
now,  anyway ;  they  make  everything  into  polo 
naises.  It's  too  ridiculous  that  Grace  should  be 
the  only  one  in  the  house  who  has  anything  that 
they  wear." 

"  Of  all  the  absurd  and  ridiculous  people  in  the 
world,  I  think  '•they*  are  a  little  the  worst. 


Theory.  46 

• 

What  earthly  right  have  *they'  to  say  what  we 
shall  wear  and  what  we  shall  not?" 

Maria's  outbursts  were  greeted  by  the  several 
members  of  the  family  according  to  their  several 
natures.  Mrs.  Randolph  looked  at  her  in  puzzled 
surprise.  Ermina  said  sharply, — 

"  I  wish  *  their '  responsibility  didn't  end  there. 
If  they  would  only  agree  to  furnish  the  articles  2 
would  wear  them." 

Grace  laughed,  a  merry,  fun-loving  laugh,  and 
Helen  said  with  an  air  of  dignified  superiority, — 

"  Don't  be  so  silly,  Maria." 

Silence  after  that  for  a  little,  only  for  Grace's 
fingers  touching  the  keys  softly  and  lightly  here 
and  there.  Maria  went  back  to  the  kitchen  or 
the  quiet  might  not  have  lasted.  Presently 
Grace  spoke  her  thoughts,  at  least  some  of  them. 

"  Helen,  you  truly  may  wear  my  polonaise  if 
you  care  to.  I've  decided  not  to  go  out  this 
evening.  Susie  Truesdell  is  coming  in,  and  we 
are  going  to  practice  for  the  concert." 

"  Why !  "  said  Helen,  in  softened  tone,  and  a 
little  touch  of  a  smile,  '-that's  a  sudden  resolu 
tion,  isn't  it?" 

"  Not  very,"  in  cheery  tones.  "  I  told  Susie 
if  I  decided  not  to  go  I  would  send  her  word, 
and  Tom  will  run  in  for  me  after  tea." 

"  Well,"  Helen  said,  after  a  moment's  hesita 
tion,  "  if  you  have  quite  decided  not  to  go  I  wiJU 


46      .  Household  Puzzle*. 

wear  it.  You  know  it  is  more  becoming  to  me, 
because  I  wear  it  with  a  black  silk  skirt;  and 
I'm  very  much  obliged  to  you,  I  am'  sure  ;  but  I 
don't  want  you  to  stay  at  home  on  my  account." 

"  There  isn't  much  time  left  before  the  con 
cert,"  was  Grace's  relevant  answer,  and  she 
dashed  into  the  merriest  of  waltzes. 

After  tea,  while  the  family  wailed  for  Mr. 
Randolph  to  come  in  to  prayers,  Ermina  to'd 
over  to  Tom  with  great  apparent  relish  the  his 
tory  of  the  day,  with-its  mistakes  and  be  wider- 
ments  as  regarded  invitations,  detailing  Helen's 
share  in  the  conversation  with  all  the  more  vivid 
ness  perhaps  because  her  heart  was  a  trifle  sore 
at  having  been  left  out  of  both  parties.  Also  she 
was  just  a  little  vexed  at  Helen  for  accepting  her 
sister's  pretty  little  sacrifice.  It  would  not  have 
been  Ermina's  nature  to  have  done  this. 

"  It  all  shapes  itself  beautifully,"  Tom  said,  en 
tering  into  the  whole  subject  with  great  glee. 
"  Theory  and  fact  agree  this  time." 

"What  do  you  mean,  my  son? ".Mrs.  Ran 
dolph  questioned. 

"Why,  the  'all-Uiings- work- together'  notion, 
mother.  I  say  they  have  come  out  right  this 
time.  It  isn't  often  I  discover  it;  but  the  thing 
is  very  plain  to  me,  that  if  Helen  had  been  in 
vited  to  Mrs.  Marshall's,  in  all  human  probability 
she  would  have  accented,  and  then  she  would 


Theory.  47 

have  been  too  late  for  Mrs.  Monroe;  and  it's 
twenty -nine  times  more  genteel  to  be  invited  to 
Monroe's  mansion  than  it  is  to  go  to  Marshall's 
two-story  abode,  even  leaving  Horace  Monroe 
out  of  the  question,  and  I  venture  to  say  he  is 
in  it." 

"  My  son ! "  said  Mrs.  Randolph,  reproof  in  her 
voice  and  an  amused  smile  on  her  face ;  but  some 
thing  had  jarred  exceedingly  on  Helen.  Hei 
voice  was  sharp  and  indignant. 

"  Tom,  I  would  make  an  effort  not  to  be  quite 
so  irreverent,  before  my  mother  at  least." 

The  entrance  of  Mr.  Randolph,  Bible  in  hand, 
checked  the  reply  that  Tom  was  aching  to  make. 

"  How  came  you  to  give  up  your  party  and 
your  dress,  for  Helen's  benefit  to-night?"  This 
was  the  question  Ermina  asked  as  she  and  Grace 
wetit  up  to  their  rooms  together,  the  evening 
being  over,  the  practicing  done. 

"  How  came  I  to  ?  Why,  it  came  itself  just 
as  easy." 

"No  doubt.  Things  do  to  you,  apparently. 
But  /mean  what  was  your  object?  " 

Grace  laughed.' 

"  Most  everything  has  an  object,"  she  said. 
lightly.  "  Well,  let  me  see.  Helen  thinks 
twice  as  much  of  parties  as  I  do.  She  wouldn't 
have  found  any  fun  in  staying  at  home,  and  I've 
managed  to  have  considerable.  Then  it's  a 


48  Household  Puzzle*. 

horrid  storm,  and  it's  a  trouble  to  dress  for  a 
party,  you  know.  Why,  dear  me !  I  just  hap 
pened  to  think  I  wouldn't  go,  so  I  didn't." 

"  That  child  is  heedless  and  indolent  even  with 
her  pleasures,"  Erraina  said,  as  Grace  bade  her 
good-night,  and  went  on  to  the  room  which  she 
shared  with  Maria. 

And  Grace  opened  her  drawer  and  lifted  the 
lid  of  her  collar-box  to  pat  lovingly  a  dainty 
white  ruffle. 

"  You're  all  ready  for  next  time  now,"  she 
said,  brightly.  "  And  very  likely  there  will 
come  a  'next  time'  in  which  things  don't  clash 
so.  Who  knows?"  Then  the  thoughtless  child 
went  to  bed. 

44 1  wonder  if  it  was  irreverent?"  Tom  said, 
lingering  in  the  kitchen  while  Maria  sponged 
bread.  He  had  just  seen  Susie  Truesdell  home 
through  the  pelting  storm,  and  was  waiting  to- 
wavru  his  feet.  Some  chance  word  of  he*rs  had 
suggested  the  conversation  early  in  the  evening, 
that  had  been  so  sternly  rebuked  by  Helen.  "  I 
wonder  if  it  was  irreverent  ?  I  suppose  it  was  — 
in  me — since  I  meant  it  for  pure  fuu.  But 
can't  you  see  how,  if  you  believed  it  at  all, 
Maria,  you  would  like  to  have  a  wholesale  be 
lief?" 

44  Wholesale  ? "  said  Maria,  pausing  in  her 
•tirring. 


Theory.  49 

"Yes;  go  away  down  to  the  bottom  of  things 
—  believe  it  through  and  through — things  work 
ing  right  for  parties  as  well  as  for  —  " 

"  Bread-making,  for  instance,"  suggested  Ma 
ria,  as  he  hesitated. 

"  Yes,  that's  it  exactly —  bread-making,  wood- 
sawing,  anything.  Nothing  too  small,  you 
know.  I'd  believe  the  whole  of  it  or  none  of 
it." 

"Do  you  mean  to  say  you  believe  none  of  it?" 

"  Well,  no,  not  exactly  that.  I'm  not  pre 
pared  to  turn  iundel,  in  theory  at  least.  It's 
enough  for  me  to  practice  it.  Theory  and  prac 
tice  don't  agree  in  this  life,  Maria,  and  that's  the 
trouble,  except  in  bread-making.  I'm  willing  to 
admit  it  in  that  instance." 

"  You  may  theorize  about  bread-making, 
though,  till  next  week,  and  if  I  don't  get  up 
in  the  morning  and  mix  it  you  won't  have  any 
bread." 

"  I  know  it.  That's  where  they  agree,  you 
see.  Theory  and  practice  —  then  you  get  re 
sults.  I  wonder  where  the  world  would  be, 
how  far  advanced,  if  people  made  the  two  things 
match  everywhere  as  they  do  in  bread?" 

41  For  instance,  in  regard  to  going  to  bed," 
said  Maria,  tucking  her  bread  up  in  flannel  and 
setting  it  behind  the  stove. 

"Yes'm;  your  instances  are  striking.  I'll 
4 


60 


Household  Puzzles. 


practice  on  that  last  one."     And   Tom  lighted 
his  lamp  and  vanished. 

44  If  I  had  known  anything  about  it  myself  I 
might  have  helped  him."  This  Maria  said  to  the 
itove  just  before  she  left  it  for  the  night. 


CHAPTER   V. 

A  SERMON. 

fo 

|f  O  go  back  to  the  earl}'  hours  of  that 
stormy  evening.  The  storm  continued, 
and  indeed  increased  in  violence,  proving 
Helen  to  be  a  true  prophetess.  Much 
debate  arose  over  the  projected  tea-par 
ty,  and  the  propriety  of  Helen's  braving  the 
storm. 

"Ladies  are  curious  beings,"  was  Tom's  com 
ment.  "  No  man  would  venture  out  this  even 
ing  unless  he  was  obliged  to  do  so." 

"Nonsense!"  Helen  said,  energetically.    "Ev 
ery  gentleman  who  received  an  invitation  will 
be  present.     You'll  see  if  they  are  not." 
Tom's  answer  was  not  soothing. 
"Bless  me!     I  was  speaking  of  men^  not  of 
the  be-whiskered,  perfumed  fellows  that  my  lady 
Marshall  gathers  about  her." 

"  She  moves  in  the  very  best  society,"  Helen 

51 


62  Household  Puzzle*. 

said,  with  quiet  dignity. .  "  People  consider  it  ar 
honor  to  be  invited  to  her  house." 

"  I'm  glad  I  wasn't  considered  worthy  of 
the  honor,  for  the  wind  is  too  much  even  for 
me."  This  from  Ermina. 

"What  a  commotion  about  a  little  snow!" 
Helen  said,  fretfully.  "  I've  been  out  worse 
evenings  than  this." 

"Not  this  winter,"  Mr.  Randolph  said,  speak 
ing  on  the  question  for  the  first  time  just  as 
he  was  about  to  leave  the  room.  "  This  is  de 
cidedly  the  most  severe  storm  of  the  season  ; 
nothing  but  necessity  compels  me  to  face  it. 
You  will  do  well  to  think  twice,  Helen,  before 
you  decide  to  go  out." 

"  I  shall  go,"  said  Helen  determinately.  "  I 
am  not  going  to  waste  half  the  day  getting 
dressed  for  nothing." 

"  Gro!  Of  course  you  will.  Who  doubts  it? 
You  would  go  if  the  snow  was  piled  three 
feet  above  your  head,  and  you  had  to  go  through 
a  tunnel.  The  fellows  are  tunneling  down  by 
the  bridge,  anyhow." 

Mrs.  Randolph  looked  horrified. 

"Is  it  really  so  bad  as  that,  Thomson?  I 
wish  you  would  conclude  not  to  go,  Helen.  I 
shall  feel  distressed  about  you." 

Helen's  voice  was  more  gentle,  as  it  always 
was  when  she  addressed  her  mother,  but  quite 
decided. 


A  Sermon.  63 

"There  is  nothing  to  distress  yourself  about, 
mother.  Only  Tom  chooses  to  annoy  you. 
There  will  be  good  paths,  and  they  will  send  me 
home  in  the  sleigh  if  it  is  necessary.  Tom,  it 
is  unfortunate  that  you  can  find  no  better  em 
ployment  than  making  mother  feel  uncomforta 
ble.  I  really  wish  you  had  something  to  do 
with  yourself  in  the  evening.  Some  boys  study, 
but  I  suppose  we  must  give  up  all  hopes  of  you 
in  that  direction." 

Tom  gave  a  lugubrious  sigh. 

"  I  suppose  you  must,"  he  said,  in  a  solemn, 
nasal  tone.  "  I  was  the  pride  and  joy  of  my 
eldest  sister's  heart,  the  very  apple  of  her  eye, 
she  lived  and  breathed  only  for  me  ;  but  I  have 
fallen  from  the  high  pedestal  whereon  her  high 
hopes  placed  me,  and  now  it  is  sadly  to  be  feared 
that  I  shall  bring  down  her  brown  switch  with 
sorrow  to  the  grave." 

Ermina  and  Maria  were  convulsed  with  laugh 
ter,  but  Helen's  eyes  blazed  angrily  —  ridicule 
was  a  thing  that  she  could  not  meet  pleasantly  ; 
and  Tom,  having  finished  his  sentence  in  a 
sepulchral  voice,  saw  fit  to  vanish  through  the 
open  door.  Words  sent  at  random  sometimes 
stayed  by  that  young  man.  "Something  to  do" 
—  he  heartiiy  wished  it  for  himself.  Maria's  at 
tempts  to  stay  up  the  falling  fortunes  of  the  fam 
ily,  to  economize  the  very  pennies,  kept  him 


54  Household  Puzzles. 

from  very  shame  from  the  many  convivial  pleas* 
ures  in  which  his  heart  delighted,  and  which  had 
been  the  bane  and  the  cause  of  the  sudden  clos 
ing  of  his  college  life.  Fortunately  for  him  such 
pleasures  cost  money,  and  money  he  hadnt; 
neither  was  he  willing  to  "join  the  fellows" 
and  "  trust  to  luck  "  to  meet  his  share,  as  had 
been  his  college  habit.  Maria  was  too  constant 
an  example  for  that.  He  had  failed  thus  far 
in  obtaining  work  of  any  sort  —  he  had  lost 
all  heart  for  study.  "  What  was  the  use  of 
study  ? "  he  asked  himself,  grumblingly,  now 
that  college  doors  were  closed  against  him. 
There  actually  seemed  to  be  nothing  for  Tom  to 
do  but  to  "  lounge  arouud  and  be  a  nuisance." 
This  was  what  Helen  in  one  of  her  petulant 
moods  had  said  of  him.  On  this  particular 
evening  he  "lounged"  out  to  the  kitchen. 
Maria  had  left  it  in  neat  array  but  in^reat  lone 
liness.  Tom  drummed  on  the  tin  pan  that 
was  turned  over  the  bread  sponge,  and  wished 
that  the  sponger  thereof  would  come  out  so  they 
might  have  a  talk.  That  not  happening,  and 
the  kindlings  having  been  made  ready  early  in 
the  evening,  there  seemed  absolutely,  nothing 
to  take  his  attention.  He  opened  the  doo; 
and  stepped  out  on  the  piazza,  10  view  the 
weather.  From  the  wood-house  chamber  win 
dow  there  came  the  rays  of  a  modest  light  oo 


A  Sermon.  65 

the  snow.  It  suggested  to  Tom  an  escape  from 
his  wearisome  self.  He  would  go  and  visit 
Peter.  Quite  delighted  at  this  novel  idea,  he 
went  three  steps  at  a  time  up  the  back  stairs, 
aad  knocked  loudly  at  Peter's  door.  Receiv 
ing  a  low-toned  preoccupied  "  come  in,"  he 
pushed  open  the  door,  and  the  inmate  was  re 
vealed  to  him,  perched  on  a  high  stool,  his  elbow 
resting  on  the  liltle  old  table,  his  head  in  his 
hands,  gazing  at  an  open  book.  He  expressed 
neither  surprise  nor  bewilderment  at  seeing 
•  his  unusual  visitor,  but  glancing  up,  said,  grave- 

iy,- 

"I've  found  him." 

"Have  you,  indeed?"  Tom  answered,  brisk 
ly.  "  That's  lucky,  I  suppose.  Who  might  he 
happen  to  be  ?  " 

"  Why,  that  Peter  you  told  me  about.  I've 
looked  off  and  on  for  him  every  night  since  you 
told  me  ;  but  as  I  didn't  know  in  what  place 
to  look,  it  took  considerable  time  to  find  him. 
I've  got  him  now,  though  —  the  very  first  of 
him  I  guess.  It  reads  as  though  they  hadn't 
told  anything  about  him  before." 

Tom  sat  down  on  the  side  of  his  host's  bed 
and  gave  himself  up  to  laughter. 

"  What  are  you  laughing  at?"  said  Peter,  in 
surprise. 

"  Well,"  Tom  said,  quieting  a  little,  "  if  the 


66  Household  Puzzle*. 

truth  must  be  told,  I  was  laughing  at  you. 
You're  about  the  drollest  chap  I  ever  heard 
of.  So  you've  been  hunting  up  Peter  evor 
since  ?  " —  and  Tom  went  off  into  another  laugh. 

"Well,  now,"  said  Peter,  gazing  at  him 
in  undisguised  astonishment ;  "I  declare  I  can't 
see  anything  in  that  to  laugh  at.  I  can't,  now, 
to  save  my  life.  Wh}7  shouldn't  I  hunt  him  up? 
If  there  was  a  chap  of  your  name  in  the  Bi 
ble,  wouldn't  you  kiud  of  like  to  know  what  he 
did  ?  " 

"  There  is,"  said  Tom,  with  suddeu  energy ; 
"  I'll  be  bound  if  there  isn't.  Thomas  his  name 
is;  just  what  my  name  was  at  first,  until  there 
were  so  many  of  the  same  name  in  the  family 
that  father  changed  mine  to  Thomson.  It's  just 
another  form  of  the  same  name,  I  presume, 
though." 

"  What  did  Thomas  do  ?  " 

"  I  doubt  if  I  know.  Some  pretty  scaly 
things,  if  I  remember  rightly.  One  of  these 
times  we'll  hunt  him  up.  Let's  hear  about 
the  other  one  now." 

Thus  invited,  Peter  turned  with  alacrity  to  his 
Bible,  and  read,  in  slow,  laborious  tone, — 

'**  And  Jesus,  walking  by  the  sea  of  Galilee, 
saw  two  brethren,  Simon  called  Peter,  and  An 
drew  his  brother,  casting  a  net  into  the  sea:  for 
they  were  fishers.'  I  tell  you  I  think  that's  fine,'1 


A  Sermon.  67 

he  said,  pausing  in  his  reading.  "  When  I  read 
about  him  walking  along  and  seeing  folks,  and 
folks  seeing  him,  seems  to  me  I  can't  stand  it.  I 
want  to  be  along  with  'em  and  have  him  see  me." 

"  There's  undoubtedly  a  difference  in  men," 
Tom  said,  meditatively. 

"What?" 

"I  was  speculating  as  to  what  you  thought, 
and  what  I  thought." 

"  What  do  you  think  ?  " 

"  Several  things.  Never  mind  ;  go  on.  Fish 
ermen,  were  they  ?  I  didn't  remember  that.  I 
suppose  it  was  fine  employment  iu  those  days. 
What  happened?  " 

"  '  And  he  saich  unto  them :  Follow  me,  and  I 
will  make  you  fishers  of  men.'  Now,  you  see," 
Peter  said,  speaking  mournfully,  "  he  spoke  to 
them.  They  was  nothing  but  poor  fishers,  and 
he  stopped  in  his  walk  and  spoke  to  them. 
Where's  the  sea  of  Galilee,  Tom  ?  " 

"  Haven't  the  slightest  idea.  I  can  tell  you 
about  as  little  on  this  subject,  I  fancy,  as  any 
body  you  could  apply  to." 

"  Well,  never  mind.  I'll  find  out  somehow. 
Wasn't  it  fine,  though  ?  What  would  you  have 
done  if  you'd  been  one  of  them  fellows  ?  " 

"  Can't  say.     What  would  you  ?  " 

"Well,"  said  Peter,  meditatively,  "I  ain't 
sure.  You  can't  never  be  sure,  I  suppose.  But 


68  Household  Puzzle*. 

it's  my  opinion  that  I'd  have  done  precisely  what 
they  did." 

"  What  was  that  ?  " 

"  Oh,  you  haven't  heard  the  whole  story. 
Well,  I'll  read  the  rest  of  it.  'And  he  saith 
unto  them:  "Follow  me,  and  [  will  make  you 
fishers  of  men.  And  they  straightway  left  then 
nets  and  followed  him.' ' 

"Now,  you  see,  there's  a  trouble.  I  don't  un 
derstand  what  that  means.  I'm  bothered  a  good 
deal  in  that  way." 

"  What  of  it  ?  "  Tom  asked,  listlessly.  "  You 
are  not  that  Peter,  you  know,  so  it's  of  no  con 
sequence  what  was  said  to  him,  ages  ago." 

Peter  shook  his  head  decisively.  "  That  won't 
do  —  it's  a  thing  that  came  up  in  the  class  last 
Sunday,  and  it  was  made  pretty  clear  to  my  mind 
that  there  ain't  much  in  the  Bible  but  what  was 
wrote  there  for  us ;  it  stands  to  reason,  you  see. 
Why  would  folks  want  to  keep  reading  the  Bible 
over  and  over  again,  if  it  was  all  about  folks 
who've  been  dead  and  gone  a  thousand  years 
ago,  and  didn't  mean  nothing  to  us?  It's  just 
what  I  was  anxious  to  hunt  up  Peter  for,  because 
it's  likely  enough  that  the  very  same  things  he 
said  to  that  Peter  might  mean  me  too." 

"But  he  called  on  Peter  to  follow  him,  and 
you  can't  do  that." 

"What's  the  reason  I  can't?     Ain't  it  exactly 


A  Sermon.  69 

what  Tin  tiying  to  do?  If  there's  anything  thai; 
I'm  working  at  in  this  world,  it's  that  'follow 
ing.'  " 

k>  Oh,  well,"  said  Tom,  "  I  meant  follow  him 
literally,  as  they  did,  along  the  sea-shore  of  Gali 
lee  ;  they  left  their  nets  and  followed  him." 

"No,"  Peter  said,  mournfully;  "I  can't  go 
and  follow  him  as  they  did.  Ain't  that  exactly 
what  I  said  ?  But,  then,  I  can  follow  ;  folks  can 
do  that.  lie  went  to  heaven,  you  know,  and 
that's  what  I'm  after.  But  about  that  'fishers 
of  men  ' —  now,  that's  a  poser ;  I  can't  take  it 
in,  and  it's  a  pity ;  there's  no  telling  but  it 
means  me.  I  wonder  how  I'll  go  to  work  to  find 
out?" 

Tom's  conscience  smote  him ;  intellectually  he 
understood  perfectly  what  it  meant,  but  it  was 
such  a  new  thing  for  him  to  attempt  an  explana 
tion  of  Bible  language.  He  leaned  against  the 
foot-board,  and  yawned,  and  pretended  not  to 
have  heard  ;  but  Peter's  grave,  troubled  face  was 
i  reproach. 

"  What  put  you  into  such  a  strange  way  of 
thinking?"  he  asked,  at  length. 

Peter  looked  up  with  a  stare  of  astonishment. 

"What  way?" 

"  Why,  hunting  through  the  Bible  for  people 
and  things  in  a  way  that  no  other  mortal  fellow 
would  think  of  doing,  I'll  venture  to  say." 


60  Household  Puzzle*. 

"  Why  ?  "  said  Peter,  blankly.  "  The  Bible's 
true,  ain't  it?" 

"  I  don't  deny  it.  What  has  that  got  to  do 
with  the  question  ?  " 

44  Humph !  a  good  deal,  I  should  think.  If 
the  Bible's  true,  and  it's  about  me,  why  shouldn't 
I  want  to  find  out  about  it?  You  fellows  study 
away  at  arithmetic  because  it's  true,  and  you 
want  to  use  what's  in  it  to  help  yourselves  along. 
What's  the  reason  a  body  shouldn't  work  at  the 
Bible  for  the  same  reason  ?  I  think  it's  enough 
sight  iuterestinger  than  arithmetic,  too  —  but 
them  '  fishers  of  men  '  is  a  poser." 

Tom  laughed  uproariously,  then  yawned,  then 
sat  erect,  with, — 

44  Well,  now,  my  beloved  Peter,  I  presume  I 
could  read  that  riddle  to  you  if  I  tried.  Do  you 
know  how  to  fish  ?  " 

His  congregation  nodded. 

"  Well,  then,  you  know  that  there's  a  thousand 
different  kinds  of  fish,  more  or  less,  and  they 
have  to  be  caught  in  about  as  many  different 
ways :  some  you  have  to  coax,  you  know,  and  be 
very  easy  with ;  and  others  you  have  to  be  very 
spry  over;  and  some  require  entirely  different 
bait  from  others ;  and  that's  the  way  with  men, 
I  take  it;  it  requires  about  as  much  skill  to 
catch  men  as  it  does  fish  ;  and  He  was  goiu^  to 
teach  them  to  be  just  as  skillful.  Do  you  see  ?  " 


A  Sermon.  61 

Peter    drew   a   long    breath,   and    answered 

slowly, — 

"Yes  —  I  guess  I  see  —  yes — I  know  I  do.  I 
take  it  in.  Why,  yes — it's  plain;  and  it's  grand 
too.  Ain't  it  now  ?  " 

"  Jolly  I  you  are  worse  than  St.  Peter  was  to 
ask  questions,  I  venture  to  say.  Well,  sir,  I've 
preached  a  sermon  to-night — the  first  one  in  my 
life  —  and  I  must  say  I  had  a  very  attentive 
audience." 

And  Tom  immediately  brought  his  visit  to  a 
close.  It  was  the  lingering  of  this  conversation 
in  his  brain  that  suggested  that  little  talk  with 
Maria,  of  which  I  told  you  in  the  last  chapter. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

SMOKE  AND  BEWILDERMENT. 

1 T  was  the  evening  after  the  party.  There 
was  no  family  worship  at  the  Randolphs' 
that  evening.  The  head  of  the  household 
was  stretched  on  the  bed  in  his  chamber, 
his  head  done  up  in  brown  paper,  wet  in 
vinegar,  of  which  there  was  a  stifling  odor  pene 
trating  even  to  the  sitting-room.  Maria  sat  at 
his  feet  like  a  statue,  keeping  guard  just  now  at 
the  sitting-room  door,  out  of  which  hovered  Mrs. 
Randolph  every  five  minutes  for  the  purpose  of 
driving  the  poor  victim  on  the  bed  half  an  inch 
nearer  distraction  by  asking  him  "How  he  felt 
now  ?  "  He  had  the  sick  headache.  The  little 
table  at  his  side  held  a  cup  of  salt  and  water,  a 
cup  of  strong  tea  without  milk  or  sugar,  a  cup 
of  soda-water,  a  cup  of  brandy  and  water,  and  — 
I  don't  remember  what  else ;  being  the  result  of 
62 


Smoke  and  Bewilderment.  63 

the  united  efforts  of  the  family  to  help  "settle  hia 
stomach."  Of  course  they  did  no  good.  I  wish 
with  all  my  heart  I  could  have  been  there  to 
whisk  his  feet  into  a  tub  of  hot  water  and  wring 
out  a  cloth  with  cold  water  to  lay  on  the  poor 
abused  stomach,  covering  it  closely  with  two 
or  three  layers  of  flannel  —  then  the  Randolph 
family  would  have  learned  two  new  things ;  but 
I  wasn't  there,  neither  was  any  one  else  possessed 
of  sufficient  knowledge  or  common  sense  to  un 
derstand  that  there  is  hardly  any  limit  to  the 
power  of  hot  and  cold  water  over  nearly  every 
sort  of  pain.  I  have  often  wondered  if  water 
were  to  be  procured  of  the  druggist  for  two  dol 
lars  a  pint  whether  it  would  be  used  occasion- 
ally. 

The  door  opened  very  softly,  and  Tom,  beck 
oning  with  his  finger,  held  a  low-toned,  brief 
conversation  with  the  statue,  and  was  about 
departing  when  Mr.  Randolph  turned  on  hia 
pillow. 

"Take  this  vinegar  thing  off,  Maria;  it  doea 
no  good.  Is  that  Thomson  ?  " 

"  Yes,  father.  Will  you  have  a  spoonful  of  the 
brandy?" 

"No,  the  spoonfuls  don't  help  me.  Tell  Thom 
son  to  get  the  envelope  addressed  to  the  church 
treasurer,  out  of  my  left  hand  corner  drawer,  and 
send  it  by  one  of  the  girls  to  the  prayer-meeting. 


64  Household  Puzzles. 

I  ought  to  have  been  there  myself  to-night,"  and 
Mr.  Randolph  sighed  heavily.  "  Someway  1 
never  seem  able  to  be  anywhere  when  I  ought 
to  be." 

Tom  appeared  in  the  sitting-room  ten  minutes 
afterward. 

"Here's  a  paper  father  wants  taken  to  prayer- 
meeting  to-night.  It's  addressed  to  Mr.  Prime. 
Who's  going  ?  " 

"I'm  not,"  Ermina  said,  promptly,  "are  you^ 
Helen  ?  " 

Helen  shivered. 

"  Dear  me  I  no,  I'm  not.  I  feel  more  like 
going  to  bed  —  ever  so  much ;  and  it  storms 
dreadfully.  Just  hear  the  wind  blow." 

Ermina  laughed. 

"  Why,  Helen !  it  doesn't  begin  with  last 
night'a  storm.  Does  it,  Tom  ?  " 

"  Not  by  a  long  shot,"  said  Tom,  mercilessly. 
"But  last  night  there  was  a  party.  Don't  you 
know  that  circumstances  alter  cases  ?  " 

"  I  know  if  I  had  gone  to  a  party  in  last  even 
ing's  storm  I  wouldn't  plead  the  weather  against 
going  to  a  prayer-meeting  this  evening." 

"  Why  don't  you  go,  then  ? "  This  from 
Helen,  very  snappishly. 

"  Because  I  don't  want  to.  No  other  earthly 
reason.  I'm  not  afraid  of  the  snow  any  more 
than  you  are,  when  you  want  to  go  to  a  place. 


Smoke  and  Bewilderment.  .  66 

But  I  don't  feel  in  prayer-meeting  humor  to 
night  ;  so  I  stay  at  home." 

"  /go  to  prayer-meeting  from  a  sense  of  duty,'* 
Helen  said,  coldly. 

Tom  laughed  mischievously. 

"Ermiua  stays  at  home  from  prayer-meeting 
because  she  doesn't  want  to  go ;  and  Helen  goes 
when  it  is  pleasant,  and  there  isn't  a  party,  and 
she  feels  like  it  —  from  a  sense  of  duty.  What 
is  the  difference  between  them,  mother?" 

Mrs.  Randolph  looked  puzzled  and  pained,  aa 
she  always  did  when  any  words  seeming  to  be 
sharp  or  uncomfortable  reached  her  ears;  and 
Tom  hastened  to  add, — 

"  Never  mind,  mother ;  don't  puzzle  your  brain. 
*  T-t-that's  o-one  of  the  t-t-things  t-that  no  f-f-fel- 
low  can  f-f-find  out,'  as  the  fellow  says  in  the 
play.  I  tell  you  what,  Ermina,  you'd  like  to  go 
to  the  theatre.  Well,  how  is  this  important  doc 
ument  to  get  into  Mr.  Prime's  hands  ?  I  know ; 
I'll  send  it  by  Peter." 

"Does  Peter  attend  the  prayer-meeting?" 
asked  Mrs.  Randolph,  great  surprise  in  her  voice. 

"  Bless  you,  yes ;  as  regularly  as  the  minister. 
I'll  deliver  this  into  his  hands." 

"  But  perhaps  he  will  not  go  out  this  evening, 
Bince  it  is  so  stormy  and  —  " 

"No  danger,  mother,"  Helen  interrupted. 
"  That  class  of  persons  always  think  that  religion 
6 


66  Household  Puzzles. 

consists  in  going  to  prayer-meeting,  no  matter 
how  severe  the  weather  is." 

"But  people  of  culture  and  refinement  know 
enough  not  to  go,  except  when  they  feel  like  it, 
and  there  are  no  parties." 

With  that  sentence  Tom  wisely  closed  the  door 
on  further  conversation,  and  went  off  in  search 
of  Peter. 

The  little  light  was  burning  over  the  wood- 
house  chamber.  He  took  note  of  that  before  he 
went  stumbling  up  the  dark,  steep  back  stair-case. 
At  the  chamber  door  he  paused ;  there  were 
voices  within. 

"  He's  got  company,"  Tom  said,  hesitating 
•whether  to  enter.  "  No ;  I  declare  I  believe  the 
queer  fellow  is  talking  to  himself.  It's  his  voice 
and  no  other.  Reading  aloud  about  his  friend 
Peter,  perhaps.  It  doesn't  sound  like  reading, 
either." 

He  stepped  nearer  the  door,  then  stepped  back 
and  instinctively  raised  his  hand  to  remove  his 
hat.  It  was  the  force  of  habit  —  for  Peter  was 
praying !  What  there  should  be  strange  and  be 
wildering  about  a  young  man  kneeling  in  prayer 
to  God  I  can  not  pretend  to  say ;  but  Tom  had  a 
very  queer  feeling  come  over  him  as  he  waited. 
A  curious  desire  to  know  what  Peter  could  find 
to  say,  or  what  motive  prompted  him,  mingled 
with  a  courteous  sense  of  the  impropriety  of  lia- 


Smoke  and  Bewilderment.  67 

tenins:  to  what  was  not  intended  for  his  ears.     Ha 

o 

leaned  against  the  stair  rail  and  whistled  softly  to 
drown  the  sound  of  the  earnest  words,  and  waited 
until  the  voice  ceased  and  Peter  was  moving 
about  the  room ;  then  he  gave  a  ponderous 
knock. 

*'  Here's  a  document  to  be  intrusted  to  your 
care  —  that  is  if  you  happen  to  be  going  to 
church.  Father  wants  it  given  to  Mr.  Prime. 
Are  you  going  out  ?  " 

"  Oh,  yes ;  I'm  going  to  the  prayer-meeting. 
What  if  you  should  go  along  with  me,  Tom?  " 

If  the  invitation  had  been  given  under  any 
other  circumstances,  I  feel  sure  Tom  would  have 
been  prompt  in  declining ;  but  in  spite  of  him 
self  he  had  a  feeling  of  respect  for  Peter,  new 
and  undefinable.  Peter  had  just  been  praying. 
Tom  was  not  an  idiot.  On  the  contrary,  he  was 
an  intelligent  young  man.  He  sometimes  thought 
he  could  not  fail  to  know  that  it  was  a  strange 
honor  to  be  permitted  to  speak  to  God.  Why 
he  did  not  avail  himself  of  this  honor  can  not  be 
answered  any  easier  than  we  can  tell  why  hun 
dreds  of  young  men  of  intelligence  refuse  the 
same  privilege.  Still  he  felt  the  instinctive  re 
spect  natural  to  a  refined  nature  for  one  who  had 
just  come  from  the  Holy  Presence.  He  could  not 
quite  laugh,  even  at  the  idea  of  his  going  to 
prayei  -meeting. 


68  Household  Puzzles. 

"  Why  should  I  ?  "  he  said,  absently. 

"  Why  shouldn't  you  ?  "  Peter  asked,  quickly ; 
and  then  Tom  laughed. 

"  Sure  enough ;  one  question  is  as  easy  of  so 
lution  as  the  other,  but  1  suppose  the  main  reason 
is  —  I  don't  want  to." 

Peter  was  not  a  logician.  He  didn't  know 
there  was  such  a  thing  as  logic.  He  was  not 
sharp  at  a  retort,  or  he  might  have  involved  Tom 
in  endless  bewilderments  as  to  why  a  being  pos 
sessed  of  common  sense  shouldn't  naturally  want 
to  go  where  the  King  of  kings  held  audience. 
He  was  a  simple,  earnest-hearted  boy,  his  answer 
was  thoroughly  simple  and  undiplomatic,  so  far 
as  intention  was  concerned. 

"I  wish  I  ever  had  a  fellow  to  go  with  me 
anywhere,  like  other  boys.  It's  awful  lonesome 
to  be  forever  alone." 

Tom's  brain  was  equal  to  any  amount  of 
youthful  argument.  Tom's  heart  was  tender. 

"  Poor  fellow,"  he  said,  sympathetically.  He 
understood  that  feeling.  He  sometimes  felt  very 
much  alone.  "  Would  you  really  like  to  have  me 
go  with  you,  for  sort  of  company,  you  know  ?  " 

"I'd  like  it  awfully,"  said  Peter,  with  great 
earnestness. 

"  Then  I'll  do  it ;  there's  nothing  to  hinder, 
and  I  might  as  well  be  there  as  anywhere  else." 

Ten  minutes  later  the  two  appeared   in  the 


Smoke  and  Bewilderment.  69 

Harvard  Place  Chapel.  That  chapel  was  a  very 
pleasant  spot  under  some  circumstances.  The 
carpet  was  bright  and  neat,  the  illuminated  texts 
profuse  and  appropriate  and  neatly  hung,  the 
cane-seated,  cane-backed  arm-chairs  were  ar 
ranged  with  regard  to  comfort  and  convenience, 
the  gas  fixtures  were  handsome  in  design  and 
abundant  in  number.  Why  the  sexton  had 
thought  proper  to  light  but  three  burners  for  that 
large  room  can  not  be  with  certainty  ascertained. 
Why  the  minister,  or  the  Sunday-school  Superin 
tendent,  or  Mr.  Prime,  or  somebody,  didn't  advise 
him  to  light  more  burners  does  nob  appear, 
either;  but  the  consequence  was  plain  —  the 
chapel  presented  the  appearance  of  a  dungeon. 
To  add  to  the  effect,  the  black  hole  in  the  floor, 
at  the  northeast  corner  of  the  room,  emitted  more 
smoke  than  heat.  The  other  black  hole,  in  the 
southwest  corner,  gave  neither  smoke  nor  heat, 
but  was  hopelessly  cold  and  sullen.  The  sexton 
had  seen  fit  to  make  use  of  but  one  furnace. 

"We  are  late,"  Peter  had  said,  as  they  as 
cended  the  chapel  steps. 

"  Awful !  "  Tom  had  answered,  with  a  comical 
grimace,  reserving  his  answer  until  they  had  en 
tered  the  chapel  and  discovered  three  women  and 
one  boy  partially  engulfed  in  the  twilight  that 
reigned. 

44  Just  enough  here  to  play  puss  in  the  corner," 


70  Household  Puzzle*. 

Tom  further  whispered ;  "  and  they  have  seated 
themselves  as  if  that  were  the  object  in  view.  I 
wonder  if  they  could  have  got  farther  apart  if 
they  had  tried  ?  " 

Peter  shook  his  head. 

"  We're  late  for  all  that,"  he  said,  stoutly. 
*'  Mr.  Gordon  said  the  meeting  begun  at  seven, 
and  it's  pretty  near  a  quarter  past." 

"  And  he  isn't  here  himself.  My !  what  a  barn 
this  is ;  a  fellow  will  have  to  stand  on  the  register 
to  keep  from  freezing.  If  I  had  a  match  I'd  light 
some  more  burners.  It  looks  like  a  jail." 

Several  more  people  arrived  in  the  course  of 
the  next  ten  minutes,  and  Tom,  who  was  in 
dustriously  counting,  reported  nineteen  in  all. 
Lastly  came  Mr.  Gordon,  looking  nervous  and 
flurried.  He  apologized  for  his  tardiness,  said  H 
matter  of  importance  had  detained  him ;  then  the 
meeting  was  opened.  That  is,  Mr.  Gordon  tried 
to  open  it.  He  said,  "  We  will  open  the  meeting 
this  evening  by  singing  the  twenty-ninth  hymn." 
It  was  long  metre,  and  there  were  five  verses. 
Mr.  Gordon  read  them,  then  peered  anxiously 
over  his  spectacles. 

"  I  had  hoped  that  our  chorister  would  be  here 
by  this  time,"  he  said,  in  troubled  tones.  "  Is 
there  any  one  present  who  will  be  kind  enough 
to  lead  our  singing  ?  Miss  Keller,  will  you  ?  " 

Apparently  Miss  Keller  would  neit her  sing  nor 


Smoke  and  Bewilderment.  71 

speak.  She  looked  down  at  her  open  book, 
nudged  her  companion  with  her  elbow,  simpered 
a  little,  and  remained  dumb ;  yet  Miss  Keller 
was  one  of  the  leading  singers  in  the  Harvard 
Place  choir. 

"  I  don't  see  but  we  shall  have  to  dispense  with 
singing,"  Mr.  Gordon  said,  after  a  distressing 
silence.  "  Brother  Payne,  will  you  lead  us  in 
prayer?  " 

Tom  listened  curiously.  Mr.  Payne  was  a  good 
man,  given  to  using  a  large  word  in  place  of  a 
small  one  if  a  substitute  could  be  found. 

"  His  prayer  sounds  as  if  lie  might  be  reading 
it  from  the  dictionary,"  the  wicked  fellow  whis 
pered  to  Peter;  but  Peter's  head  was  bowed  and 
his  eyes  were  closed,  the  whisper  passed  by  him 
unheard.  Before  the  prayer  was  concluded,  Tom 
fidgeted,  which  was  perhaps  not  strange.  Mr. 
Payne  prayed  as  though  he  had  forgotten  all 
about  that  duty  for  weeks,  and  that  nothing  of 
probable  or  conceivable  interest  in  Church  or 
State  must  go  unnoticed  now. 

"  A  very  good  oration  in  honor  of  everything," 
Tom  told  Maria  afterward ;  "  but  as  for  being  a 
prayer,  why  it  wasrit  any  more  than  the  arith 
metic  is." 

Mr.  Gordon  perhaps  being  familiar  with  his  ma 
terial,  and  expecting  little  help,  then  read  a 
psalm,  and  spoke  on  each  verse  earnest,  faithful 


72  Household  Puzzle*. 

words ;  but  Tom,  like  all  young  gentlemen  of  his 
age  and  experience,  was  a  severe  critic. 

"  It  was  a  good  sermon,  Maria;  very  good  in 
deed,  I  should  say  —  what  I  heard  of  it ;  but  you 
see  he  appointed  a  prayer-meeting." 

By  this  time  the  chorister  had  arrived,  and  the 
long  hymn  was  sung  by  the  chorister  and  Miss 
Keller  to  a  tune  unknown  by  any  of  the  other 
seventeen,  "  or  anybody  else  in  all  creation,'*  Tom 
said.  Mr.  Evans  prayed  after  that,  ten  minutes 
by  the  watch  of  the  wicked  looker-on.  What  he 
said  few  knew.  He  had  chosen  his  corner  most 
remote  from  the  others,  and  his  voice  was  never 
much  above  a  murmur.  A  very  few  prayers  and 
hymns  of  the  length  mentioned  sufficed  to  fill  an 
hour,  especially  when  there  are  long  drawn  pauses 
between  each  prayer.  Meantime  the  room  seemed 
to  grow  colder,  the  women  shivered  and  drew 
their  wraps  about  them,  one  or  two  even  gained 
courage  to  cross  the  room  and  stand  on  the  black 
hole  in  the  floor,  thereby  monopolizing  to  a  con 
siderable  extent  what  little  heat  there  was.  Al 
together  it  was  a  forlorn,  spiritless  place.  Mr. 
Gordon  struggled  hard,  both  with  the  memory 
of  something  which  had  detained  him,  and  which 
still  evidently  troubled  him,  and  tho  dispiriting 
influences  which  surrounded  him.  A  stranger 
to  earth  and  earthly  prayer-meetings  might  have 
imagined  that  the  minister  was  pressing  a  groat 


Smoke  and  Bewilderment.  78 

personal  need  of  his  own  on  the  people,  so  earn 
estly  did  he  plead  with  them  not  to  let  the  time 
run  to  waste. 

"  I  don't  wonder  at  Helen  going  to  prayer- 
meeting  from  a  sense  of  duty,  and  Ermina  not 
going  because  she  doesn't  want  to.  I  shouldn't 
think  she  would.  I'll  be  hanged  if  I've  been  in 
fiuch  a  dreary  place  before  since  I  used  to  get  shut 
up  in  the  wood-closet  at  school  when  I  was  a 
youngster.  Ugh!  I'm  chilled  through  to  the 
bone.  I  shan't  get  warm  again  to-night.  What 
upon  earth  do  they  have  it  so  cold  for  ?  "  said 
Tom,  with  energy,  as  soon  as  he  was  safely  out 
side  the  walls. 

"It  was  cold,"  Peter  said,  thoughtfully. 
"  Yes,"  he  confessed  it  was,  "  mostly  cold ;  not  so 
bad,  though,  on  warmer  nights;  and  one  night, 
that  time  it  thawed,  it  was  awful  hot  there,  so 
they  had  to  open  a  window." 

"  I  wouldn't  have  done  it,"  Tom  said.  "  I'd 
have  bottled  it  up  somehow  for  future  use.  Why, 
it's  abominable  expecting  people  to  sit  quiet  when 
they  are  freezing  to  death.  What  do  they  have 
it  so  dark  there  for  ?  If  anybody  wanted  to  sing 
their  outlandish  tunes  they  couldn't  see  to  do  it. 
Nobody  will  ever  want  to,  though,  I  presume. 
I've  heard  those  words  that  they  sang  first  sung 
ever  since  I  was  born,  and  I  never  heard  them 
without  Rockingham  before.  What  splendid  taste 


74  Household  Puzzles. 

for  two  people  to  yell  and  screech  and  grc  wl  and 
thunder  through  a  tune  like  that  in  prayer-meet 
ing,  chasing  each  other  like  a  couple  of  ponies  out 
on  a  race.  I  wonder  how  many  times  Miss 
Keller  sung  that  half  a  line  over?  I  say,  Peter, 
what  do  they  have  it  so  dark  there  for?" 

Peter  did  not  know,  he  was  sure.  He  con 
fessed  that  his  own  opinion  was  they  wanted  to 
save  gas. 

"  Save  gas ! "  Tom  repeated,  disdainfully. 
"  And  they  have  it  like  an  ice-house  for  the  pur 
pose  of  saving  coal,  I  presume.  It's  unfortunate 
that  there  are  not  more  men  in  that  church  with 
hundred  thousand  dollar  incomes.  I'll  tell  you 
what  it's  for,  it's  to  save  paying  attention  to  any 
thing  but  their  precious  mills,  and  stores,  and  fac 
tories,  and  selves.  The  puzzle  is  solved.  I've 
often  wondered  why  church-members  didn't  like 
to  go  to  prayer-meeting  better.  I  never  shall 
again.  The  wonder  is  that  they  go  at  all.  Such 
a  cold,  smoky,  dismal  old  hole.  It's  a  blessed 
thing  that  I'm  not  a  minister.  If  I  were  I'd  kick 
pretty  nearly  every  man  in  my  church  once  a 
year,  at  least  —  good  hearty  kicks,  too.  Peter, 
what  do  you  go  to  prayer-meeting  for  ?  Did  you 
have  a  good  time  to-night  ?  " 

"Yes,"  said  Peter,  promptly.  "You  know, 
Tom,  He  took  a  walk  with  that  other  Peter  down 
by  the  sea  of  Galilee.  Peter**<st0  Him,  and  that 


{Smoke  and  Bewilderment.  75 

was  about  all  the  difference,  I  guess ;  because, 
you  see,  I  believe  He  came  and  stayed  by  me  thid 
evening  all  the  time." 

"  What  do  you  mean  ?  "  said  Tom,  awe-^rickei* 
in  spite  of  himself. 

"  Why,  just  that  He  was  there,  you  know.  It 
is  His  own  house,  you  see,  and  He  has  promised 
to  come." 

"  It  is  a  puzzle  yet,"  Tom  said,  this  time  to  his 
own  inner  self.  "The  fellow  is  talking  about 
something  that  I  don't  understand ;  and  yet  it  ia 
no  sham,  he  feels  it  and  means  it.  There's  Helen 
and  Ermina  for  one  class  of  Christians,  and  there's 
father  and  Peter  for  another  kind.  Mother  is  like 
neither  of  them.  I  wonder  if  there's  another  kind 
still.  What  a  muddle  it  is." 


CHAPTER  VII. 

"  WHAT  IS  THE  DIFFERENCE  ?  " 

'HE  household  had  something  besides  coal 
and  sugar  and  parties  to  think  about. 
There  came  an  uninvited  guest  into  their 
midst.  Mr.  Randolph  had  gone  to  Syra 
cuse  on  business  for  the  firm,  and  was  to 
be  absent  during  the  night.  At  midnight  a  figure 
in  long,  loose  wrapper,  and  with  flowing  hair, 
knocked  loudly  at  Tom's  door,  and  Grace's  voice 
summoned  him. 

"  Tom,  something  is  the  matter  down  stairs. 
Ermina  opened  the  hall  door,  and  called  to  me 
to  tell  you  to  run  quick  for  the  doctor.  I  don't 
know  who  is  sick ;  I  just  wakened." 

"  Helen  has  the  toothache,  I  presume,"  Tom 
muttered ;  nevertheless,  he  sprang  up,  and  was 
down  stairs  within  three  minutes  after  his  SUIT 
mons.     Grace  met  him  in  the  hall. 
76 


"What  is  the  Difference?"  77 

« 
"  It's  mother,  Tom.     Maria  heard  her  groaning 

away  up  stairs.     She  seems  very  sick." 

Wings  seemed  added  to  Tom's  former  speed , 
his  mother  was  very  precious  to  him.  So  it  was 
a  very  little  time  afterward  that  Dr.  Marley  bent 
over  Mrs.  Randolph,  with  grave  professional  face, 
questioned  as  to  the  earlier  symptoms  of  the  at 
tack,  and  what  had  been  done  for  her ;  then 
turned  and  addressed  Helen  as  the  oldest  daugh 
ter. 

"  I  will  prepare  some  medicine  that  may  re- 
lieve  her;  keep  the  warm  applications  to  her 
feet  —  that  is  very  proper.  I  am  glad  you 
thought  of  it.  I  will  step  into  the  dining-room 
to  prepare  the  medicine.  Thomson,  you  may 
come  with  me,  if  you  will." 

Arrived  in  the  dining-room,  just  across  the  hall, 
Dr.  Marley  made  no  attempt  to  prepare  medicine, 
but  leaned  against  the  long  dining-table,  set  for 
breakfast,  and  said,  as  he  looked  fixedly  at 
Tom,— 

"Medicine  will  do  your  mother  no  good, 
Thomson ;  do  you  realize  it  ?  " 

"  No  good ! "  Tom  repeated,  dazed  and  half- 
stupefied,  yet  his  face  grew  deadly  pale.  "  What 
do  you  mean  ?  " 

"  I  mean  that  the  case  is  already  beyond  human 
aid  ;  your  mother  is  dying,  Thomson.  It  is  the 
final  attack  of  her  old  disease." 


78  Household  Puzzles. 

In  utter  silence,  Tom  glared  for  an  instant  or. 
the  speaker,  struck  dumb  with  pain ;  then  he 
turned  and  rushed  to  his  mother's  room.  Maria 
was  where  she  had  been  since  she  first  hurried 
down  stairs,  alarmed  by  the  sounds  that  reached 
her  from  that  room  —  bending  over  her  mother, 
bathing  her  forehead,  gently  fanning  her,  direct 
ing  that  the  hot  flannels  be  wrung  out  afresh, 
sending  Ermina  for  Tom  and  the  doctor  —  using 
every  sense  of  her  alert  nature.  Helen  stood 
^helpless  and  bewildered.  "  I  don't  believe  hot 
water  is  good,"  she  had  said,  before  the  doctor's 
arrival,  when  Maria  had  remarked  on  the  strange 
ness  of  their  having  kept  up  the  kitchen  fire  on 
that  particular  night. 

*'  It  stands  to  reason  that  when  people's  feet 
are  ice-cold,  they  ought  to  be  warmed,  if  they  can 
be,"  Maria  had  answered,  determinately,  and  sent 
Grace  for  the  water. 

She  glanced  up  as  Tom  entered.  "  Have  you 
brought — "  she  said,  and  then  stopped,  and  for 
a  single  instant  the  fan,  which  was  moving  gently 
back  and  forth,  stopped. 

Tom  had  no  need  to  speak;  his  blanched  face 
told  the  awful  story. 

44  What  did  the  doctor  say  is  the  matter  with 
her  ?  "  Helen  began,  eagerly. 

44  He  did  not  say,"  Tom  answered,  and  the 
tones  of  his  voice  were  so  strange  that  both  Helen 


•*  What  is  the  Difference?"  79 

and  Ermina  turned  to  look  at  him.  Whereupon 
Ermina  staggered  back  into  a  chair,  and  Heleu 
uttered  a  stifled  groan.  "  Do  something  for  her 
—  quick,  quick  !  Why  do  you  waste  time  ?  "  she 
said,  turning  fiercely  to  the  doctor,  who  came 
back  on  tiptoe,  glass  and  spoon  in  hand. 

"  I  have  something  for  her,"  he  said,  in  low, 
soothing  tones.  "  You  must  be  very  quiet,  my 
dear  young  lady." 

"  Quiet !  "  she  said,  still  speaking  fiercely. 
"  How  can  I  be  quiet  ?  My  mother  is  suffering, 
and  you  do  nothing  for  her." 

From  the  bedside  came  a  low,  clear,  decided 
voice.  "  Helen,  hush  —  you  disturb  mother." 
A  spoonful  of  the  liquid  was  almost  forced  down 
the  poor  mother's  throat,  and  during  a  moment 
of  less  difficult  breathing,  she  looked  pleadingly 
up  in  the  doctor's  face. 

"  Am  I  going  to  die,  Dr.  Marley  ?  " 

The  doctor  looked  away  from  the  faded  eyes, 
as  he  answered,  quickly, — 

"  Oh,  we  trust  not,  Mrs.  Randolph ;  don't  think 
of  any  such  thing.  I  have  given  you  some  med 
icine  which  I  hope  will  cure  you." 

Alas !  for  the  doctors  who  shrink  away  from 
death  as  a  grim  monster,  and  know  nothing  about 
the  Hand  of  Power  that  has  taken  away  the 
sting.  No  wonder  that  the  temptation  to  shirk 
or  to  deliberately  deny  the  truth  is  too  great  for 
them. 


80  Household  Puzzles. 

Tom,  who  stood  at  the  foot  of  the  bed,  his  face 
rigid  at  the  attempt  at  self-control,  started  and 
shivered  as  if  a  blow  had  struck  him.  A  lie  at 
such  a  time  seemed  awful  to  him.  His  mother's? 
eyes  turned  from  the  doctor's  face  to  his,  and  the 
sweet,  soft  voice,  that  had  always  been  so  precious 
to  him,  spoke  directly  to  him. 

"  My  sou,  you  will  tell  me  the  truth.  Am  I 
dying?" 

"  O  mother,  mother,  don't!  "     It  was  Helen's 

voice  that  answered.     "  What  makes  you  think 

of  such  dreadful  things?     You  are  better  now,  I 

am  sure.     Father  will  be  home  in  the  morning, 

"and  then  you  will  get  well  right  away." 

With  a  persistence  that  had  been  very  rare  in 
the  gentle  mother's  life,  she  said  again,  "  My  son, 
I  am  sure  you  will  tell  me  the  truth." 

Tom  trembled  as  with  an  ague  —  his  teeth 
chattered,  so  that  his  lips  could  hardly  form  the 
words,  but  as  if  each  word  was  a  groan  wrung 
from  him,  he  cried  out, — 

*•  O  mother,  I'm  afraid  you  are." 

Helen  screamed  hysterically. 

"  Tom,  that  is  awful.  Oh,  you  have  killed 
her!" 

Again  the  firm,  controlled  tones  of  the  young 
est  daughter  sounded  in  the  room. 

"  Helen,  hush ;  your  loud  voice  disturbs  her 
Doctor,  I  think  she  is  fainting." 


"What  is  the  Difference?"  81 

Dr.  Marley  came  forward,  and  Maria,  obeying 
his  directions,  deftly  and  promptly  brought  back 
the  fluttering  pulse  once  more.  Mrs.  Randolph's 
first  words  were, — 

"  If  my  husband  were  only  here." 

"  Mother,  he  will  come  early  in  the  morning.*' 
Grace  had  come  softly  around  to  the  other  side 
of  the  bed,  and  spoke  these  words  gently  and 
soothingly. 

"  Yes,  but  I  am  going.  Oh,  I  feel  that  my  boy 
told  me  the  truth.  I  am  dying,  and  I  am  afraid 
to  die  —  so  afraid;  if  my  husband  were  here  he 
would  help  me ;  he  has  always  helped  me  about 
everything  all  his  life.  Oh,  what  shall  I  do  ?  " 

Maria  looked  around  on  the  different  inmates 
of  the  room  in  absolute  despair.  She  could  bathe 
her  mother's  throbbing  temples  more  skillfully, 
and  lift  her  more  carefully,  and  fan  her  more 
wisely  than  any  of  the  others.  This  she  knew ; 
but  to  help  her  trembling  heart  to  seize  hold  of 
the  strong  Arm  ready  to  sustain  her.  Ah,  how 
could  Maria  do  that?  She  knew  nothing  about 
that  Arm.  The  feeble,  wailing  voice  continued : 

"  I  don't  know  what  to  do.  I  am  afraid  of 
death.  I  always  was.  To  be  buried  in  the  grave 
seems  so  dreadful  to  me.  I  need  your  father 
now."' 

"Mother,"   Maria  said,  with  trembling  lipg, 
14  you  are  a  Christian." 
6 


82  Household  Puzzles. 

"  Oh,  I  don't  know.  I  don't  even  know,  Maria, 
whether  I  am  or  not.  It  is  a  dreadful  thing  to  bo 
dying  and  not  know.  Don't  you  ever  come  to  that 
place,  my  daughter,  without  being  sure  of  it.  I 
have  never  said  so  much  as  this  to  you  before. 
How  can  I  have  been  a  Christian  and  neglected 
my  children  ?  But  we  have  prayed  for  you, 
your  father  and  I,  often  and  often.  Oh,  is  there 
nobody  who  will  pray  for  me  now  ?  " 

Maria  looked  around  again,  her  face  working  in 
agony.  The  cultivated,  courteous,  kind-hearted 
physician  leaned  against  the  mantel,  ready  to  use 
his  skill  as  doctor  or  nurse,  ready  to  go  of  er 
rands,  ready  to  do  any  tiling,  except  to  pray.  No 
hope  of  his  doing  that ;  he  had  never  prayed  in 
his  life. 

"Helen,"  M;iria  said,  imploringly. 

Helen  groaned  in  agony. 

"O  Maria,  1  can't,  I  can't!  I  never  prayed 
aloud.  I  don't  know  how." 

"  Then,  Ermiua,  O  Ermina,  can't  you  pray  for 
mother?" 

Ermina  staggered  to  the  bedside  and  flung  her 
self  on  her  knees,  but  she  burst  into  such  an  agony 
of  passionate  weeping  that  Dr.  Marley  came  has 
tily  forward,  and  whispered  her  to  come  away. 
She  was  agitating  her  mother,  and  he  feared  bhe 
might  faint  again ;  and  if  so  they  might  fail  to 
rally  her. 


"  What  is  the  Difference  ?  "  83 

*'  She  should  be  soothed,"  he  said,  in  an  under 
tone  to  Maria,  whom  lie  had  recognized  as  the  real 
head.  "  This  agitation  is  taking  her  strength. 
Is  there  no  friend  near  at  hand  who  would  come 
to  her?" 

Maria  shook  her  head  blankly.  Their  frienda 
near  at  hand  were  not  such  as  would  be  willing  to 
pray, 

"  Mr.  Gordon  would  come,"  she  said.  "  I  can't 
think  of  any  one  else." 

"  He  is  much  too  far  away,  I  fear ;  still  1 
might  send  for  him.  My  boy  is  waiting  in  the 
kitchen ;  it  is  possible  he  may  reach  here  in  time." 

"  Doctor,  is  it  so  awfully  near  ?  " 

The  doctor  bowed  his  head,  then  went  to  send 
his  messenger,  more  than  half  a  mile  away,  after 
the  minister.  Poor  Tom,  it  seemed  to  him  his 
heart  was  bursting ;  he  felt  as  if  he  would  have 
given  up  every  hope  that  he  possessed  in  this 
world  if  only  he  had  known  how  to  pray  for  his 
mother.  At  this  moment  a  sudden  thought,  a 
sadden  hope,  came  to  him. 

"  Peter  will  pray,"  he  said  briskly. 

Mrs.  Randolph  caught  at  the  sentence. 

"  Go  for  him,"  she  said  pitifully.  "  Go  quick, 
before  it  is  too  late.  Oh,  I  cannot  die  without 
somebody  to  pray.  Oh,  my  children,  my  chil 
dren,  what  shall  I  do  ?  " 

Even  in  this  moment  of  supreme  anguish  Helen 


84  Household  Puzzles. 

was  shocked  at  the  strangeness  of  the  proceed 
ings.  "  Peter  was  —  well,  it  looked  so  singular 
— perhaps  it  was  unnecessary  — her  mother  could 
not,  could  not  be  going  to  die ;  she  had  not  be 
lieved  it  any  of  the  time.  They  were  all  fright 
ened,  that  was  the  trouble." 

**  Tom,"  she  said,  whispering  as  he  was  passing 
through  the  open  door,  "  the  doctor  has  sent  for 
Mr.  Gordon,  and  Peter  cannot  help  mother ;  he 
is  simply  an  ignorant  boy.  Wouldn't  it  be  better 
to  wait  just  a  few  minutes  ?  " 

"  Helen,"  he  said,  sternly,  "  mother  is  dying" 
and  he  went  swiftly  on  his  mission. 

Helen  dropped  in  a  limp  heap  on  the  floor  and 
moaned.  She  did  not  believe  it,  but  it  was  dread 
ful  even  to  think  of  fora  moment.  The  unusual 
confusion  that  prevailed  in  the  house  had  awak 
ened  Peter  some  time  before  the  doctor's  boy  had 
given  him  the  news,  and  he  stood  in  the  kitchen 
waiting  to  be  of  use.  Tom  burst  in  there  on  his 
way  to  the  wood-house  chamber. 

"  Are  you  here  ?  "  he  said,  stopping.  "  Peter, 
you  aie  the  only  one  in  the  house  who  knows  how 
to  pray.  Will  you  come  and  pray  for  my  mother? 
She  is  dying." 

Peter  had  not  been  prepared  for  such  useful 
ness.  He  had  his  lantern  lighted  ready  to  do  er 
rands;  he  had  fed  the  fire  and  added  water  to 
the  kettle  against  the  time  that  more  would  be 


"What  is  the  Difference f"  85 

needed,  but  this  work  startled  him.  Only  God 
had  heard  Peter  pray  ;  but  then  those  three  last 
words,  "  she  is  dying"  If  there  was  any  time 
when  prayer  was  needed  surely  it  was  then. 

"  I  will  if  I  can,"  he  said,  simply,  and  followed 
Tom  swiftly  and  silently  into  the  chamber  of 
death.  He  took  no  notice  of  any  of  the  faces 
turned  to  his,  but  bowed  himself  at  the  bedside. 
All  the  others  followed  his  example  save  the  doc 
tor  ;  he  leaned  decorously  against  the  mantel,  and 
kept  his  eyes  fixed  on  the  face  of  his  patient. 
Then  the  Lord  himself  took  the  guidance  of 
Peter's  lips,  for  these  were  the  words  he  uttered : 

"  Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled  :  ye  believe  in 
God,  believe  also  in  me.  In  ray  Father's  house 
are  many  mansions:  if  it  were  not  so  I  would 
have  told  you.  I  go  to  prepare  a  place  for  you. 
And  if  I  go  and  prepare  a  place  for  you,  I  will 
come  again,  and  receive  you  unto  myself;  that 
where  I  am,  there  ye  may  be  also.  And  whither 
I  go  ye  know,  and  the  way  ye  know.  And  what 
soever  ye  .shall  ask  in  my  name,  that  will  I  do, 
that  the  Father  may  be  glorified  in  the  Son.  If 
ye  shall  ask  anything  in  my  name,  I  will  do  it. 
I  will  not  leave  you  comfortless :  I  will  como  to 
you.  Peace  I  leave  with  you,  my  peace  I  give 
unto  you :  not  as  the  world  giveth,  give  I  unto 
you.  Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled,  neither  let 
it  be  afraid." 


86  Household  Puzzles. 

There  was  silence  in  the  room  as  the  words  of 
prayer  were  finished.  Mrs.  Randolph  lay  very 
quiet  with  closed  eyes;  they  thought  she  slept. 
Suddenly  she  opened  them,  and  her  voice  was 
sweet  and  natural. 

"*  My  peace  I  give  unto  you.'  Thank  you  — 
yes,  thank  you  very  much ;  I  had  forgotten. 
4  Neither  let  it  be  afraid.'  No,  I  will  not  be  afraid, 
for  he  says,  '  I  will  come  again  and  receive  you 
unto  myself.'  I  have  been  a  weak,  foolish  Chris 
tian;  but  his  promise  stands  sure.  '  I  will  come 
again  and  receive  you  unto  myself.'  He  has 
come.  '  Peace  I  leave  with  you.'  Children,  tell 
your  father  —  " 

Half  an  hour  afterward  came  Mr.  Gordon, 
breathless  with  haste,  to  speak  words  of  cheer 
and  help  to  the  dying.  He  found  only  very  fair 
still  clay,  the  spirit  had  been  received  unto  him 
self. 

Perhaps  this  is  as  good  an  opportunity  as  any 
I  shall  have  to  record  the  conversation  which  took 
place  between  Tom  and  our  friend  Petor  several 
days  after  thi.s  event. 

"  Do  the  words  read  in  connection  as  you  used 
them  in  your  prayer '/  "  Tom  asked. 

"  It  wasn't  a  prayer,"  Peter  said.  "  Only  as  I 
prated  in  my  heart,  you  know,  that  Josus  Christ 
would  como  and  speak  just  such  words  to  her,  or 
maybe  more  beautiful  oues  even,  if  he  could  find 


"  What  is  the  Difference?"  87 

any.  I  didn't  know  how  to  pray  words  of  my 
own,  you  know." 

"  I'm  glad  you  didn't.  Are  the  verses  con 
nected  as  you  repeated  them  ?  " 

"  I  don't  know.  I  haven't  found  them  in  my 
Bible  yet.  These  were  on  a  card  that  Mr.  Ham 
mond  gave  me  with  a  lot  of  others.  This  one  was 
named  k  Words  of  Comfort  to  the  Dying,'  so  I 
learned  it  first,  'cause  a  fellow  might  have  to  die 
most  any  time,  you  know." 

Tom  smiled. 

"  You're  queer,"  he  said.  "  Will  you  lend  me 
the  card?  I  would  like  to  learn  the  words  my 
self,  since  they  were  a  comfort  to  my  mother." 

"  Oh,  I'll  lend  it  to  you  and  welcome ;  but 
they  won't  do  you  much  good,  after  all.  They 
don't  belong  to  you,  you  know." 

"  Why  not,  pray?" 

"  Why,  because  there's  conditions.  Promises 
always  have  conditions,  you  know  —  most  al- 
always  ;  anyway,  these  have.  I  asked  Mr.  Ham 
mond  about  it.  '  If  you're  my  children,'  Jesus 
Christ  said,  why  then  'I'll  come  again  and  re 
ceive  you  to  myself; '  and  if  you're  my  children, 
why  you'll  do  so  and  so.  Well,  now,  I've  met 
the  condition  and  you  haven't,  you  see  —  there's 
the  difference." 

Tom  arched  his  eyebrows. 

"  That's  taking  a  pretty  high  place  yourself 


88  Household  Puzzle*. 

and  leaving  me  out  in  the  cold.  Rather  egotist 
ical,  isn't  it,  as  well  as  selfish  ?  "  . 

Peter  looked  at  him  in  genuine  wonder. 

"  Why  so  ?  "  he  said.  "  I  don't  see  how,  any 
more  than  it  would  be  if  your  father  should  say 
to  you  and  me,  *  If  you  do  this  work  I'll  give  you 
each  a  coat.'  I  might  do  the  work  and  get  the 
coat,  and  you  might  let  the  work  alone,  and  then 
you  would  leave  the  coat  alone  too,  wouldn't 
you  ?  And  it  wouldn't  be  my  fault  because  I  had 
a  coat  and  you  hadn't  —  now  would  it?" 

Tom  laughed  a  little. 

"  You  better  study  law,"  he  said.  "  Neverthe 
less,  I'll  borrow  the  card ;  it  was  my  mother's  if 
it  isn't  mine,  and  I  want  to  look  at  it." 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

MOURNING  AND  DRESSMAKING. 

AS  it  ever  been  your  desolate  fortune  to 
move  about  a  familiar  home,  doing  some 
very  commonplace  duty,  only  a  few  hours 
a^ter  some  crushing  calamity  has  fallen 
upon  the  household  ?  Do  you  know  any 
thing  of  the  utter  misery  of  taking  up  familiar 
objects  associated  with  your  everyday  life,  feeling 
that  the  soul  of  everyday  living  has  gone  from 
you,  and  yet  that  the  skeleton  of  it  is  left  for  you 
to  work  on  at  endlessly  ?  Then  you  can  appre 
ciate  something  of  Maria's  feelings  as  she  went 
down  in  the  gray  light  of  that  winter  morning, 
to  the  kitchen  to  prepare  breakfast.  Strangely 
enough,  none  of  the  friends  who  had  gathered 
promptly  around  them  in  their  sorrow  thought  to 
take  this  care  upon  themselves.  Most  of  them 
were  those  who  had  hired  help  in  their  own 

80 


90  Household  Puzzles. 

kitchens,  and  forgot  that  there  were  those  less 
favored  in  that  respect. 

Helen  remained  up  stairs  in  her  room,  which 
was  closed  on  all  intruders.  Ertnina  was  phys 
ically  unable  to  leave  her  bed,  and  Grace  was 
ministering  to  her  needs  ;  so,  of  necessity,  Maria 
went  alone  to  the  kitchen.  How  terrible  it 
seemed !  Here  in  the  dining-room  was  every 
thing  arranged  as  she  had  prepared  it  herself  the 
night  before  —  the  table  set  for  breakfast,  her 
mother's  place  at  the  head,  her  mother's  chaii 
placed  ready  for  her. 

"Not  that  chair,"  she  had  said  to  Grace,  when 
she  had  been  helping  her.  "  Mother  doesn't  like 
any  chair  but  the  high  one ;  she  is  such  a  little 
mother,  you  know." 

Now  the  little  mother  was  in  the  room  just 
across  the  hall,  but  she  would  not  come  out  to  sit 
in  her  chair  that  morning,  nor  any  other.  Maria 
leaned  against  the  table,  dumb  with  pain.  What 
a  dreadful  thing  life  was!  Only  across  the  hall 
her  mother  was  lying  still  and  white  and  lifeless, 
and  here  was  she  making  coffee  and  toasting  bread 
just  as  usual.  If  only  she  could  go  to  her  room, 
and  lock  and  bolt  herself  in,  and  give  voice  and 
expression  to  her  agony  ;  if  she  might  even  be 
taking  care  of  some  one  who  was  really  suffering, 
like  Ermina ;  but  then  Grace  could  do  that,  and 
in  kitchen  work  she  was  a  novice,  and  they  must 


Mourning  and  Dressmaking. 

all  eat,  even  though  their  hearts  were  breaking, 
H,d  dishes  must  be  washed  and  rooms  swept  just 
as  if  that  silent  presence  across  the  hall  were  not 
a 1  that  was  leftto  them  of  mother.  Tom  came 
to  the  dining-room,  and  in  hoarse  tones  recalled 
Maria  to  outward  life. 

«  Maria,  what  about  father  ?  " 
«  What  about  him  ?  "  she  repeated,  in  a  blank, 
dazed  way.  -  -Yes,  the  train  is  due  in  an  Y  >ur. 
Oh!  "   and  that  one  short,  sharp  word  expressed 
a  volume.     For  one  little  minute  she  had 
gotten  her  father.     «  Some  one  mnst  go  to: 

him."  .    9,, 

"  Who  will  go  ?     Can  you,  Maria  ? 

Maria  shook  her  head. 

« I  am  not  the  one,  Tom.     I  can  make  him  a 
cup  of  coffee,  and  coax  him  to  drink  it,  and  have 
his  Uppers  ready,  but  for  such  times  as  these 
am  helpless.     It  seems  to  me  some  one  wh« 
some  Christian  ought  to  go." 

u  Where  shall  I  find  one?"  Tom  asked  the 
question  in  a  tone  that  at  any  other  time  would 
have  savored  of  sarcasm.  "Do  you  think  Helen 
would  be  the  person  to  go  ?  " 

"  Oh  no,"  Maria  said  quickly.  "  She  wouldn  t 
go,  either ;  and  Ermiua  is  sick.  Tom,  you  must 
ask  Mr.  Gordon  to  go.  Mr.  Evans  is  here  with 
his  carriage.  You  get  Mr.  Gordon  to  take  it  and 
go  for  father.  He  is  the  only  one  to  help  us 
now." 


92  Household  Pvxzles. 

"  I  wish,"  Tom  said,  and  stopped. 
"  What  do  you  wish  ?"  Maria  asked,  drearily, 
going  on  with  her  toasting  in  an  apathetic  way. 
*'  I  wish  father  had  a  child  who  knew  how  to 
bo  of  any  comfort  to  him  now." 

The  muscles  of  Maria's  face  worked  pitifully 
She  was  thinking  of  that  same  thing;  indeed, 
she  felt  the  need  of  some  unseen,  unknown  Arm 
to  lean  her  own  weak  heart  upon. 

'Not  but  that  you  always  have  and  always 
will  be  a  comfort  to  him,"  Tom  hastened  to  say. 
"But  I  meant,  Maria,  that  it  seems  as  if  he 
needed  some  one  who  felt  as  he  does  about 
things.  You  know  what  I  mean." 

It  was  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day  that 
Maria  was  summoned  from  the  depths  of  her 
pillow  in  her  own  room,  whither  she  had  crept 
for  a  few  minutes,  to  a  consultation  in  the  back 
sitting-room.  Helen  was  standing  in  the  center 
of  the  room,  Mi*s  Allen  beside  her;  Ermina, 
looking  like  a  ghost,  was  propped  up  among  pil 
lows  in  the  great  rocking-chair ;  Grace  sat  on  a 
low  ottoman,  but  she  had  moved  it  away  from 
the  green-covered  rocker  near  where  it  alwavs 
stood  —  no  one  occupied  the  green  rocker  to-day. 
Helen  turned  as  her  youngest  sister  entered. 

44  Maria,"  she  said,  wearily,  "  what  a  time  you 
have  been  in  coming.  It  is  necessary  to  know 
what  you  must  have  made  up.  Miss  Allen  is 
waiting  to  report  to  Mrs.  Akers." 


Mourning  and  Dressmaking. 

"  Made  up ! "  Maria  said.  She  was  not  given 
to  repeating  words  stupidly,  but  her  brain  was 
very  dull  that  day. 

"•  Why,  ves.  A  dress  you  will  need,  of  course, 
and  a  hat,  and  what  about  a  sack,  or  would  you 
have  a  polonaise,  and  have  no  outside  garment, 
until  we  have  the  heart  to  think  a  little  ?  " 

Maria  began  to  understand.     It  was  the  first 
dawning    of    the    whole    terrible    subject    of 
"  clothes."     She  had  not  given  it  a  thought  that 
day,  but  she  spoke  promptly  enough  now. 
"  Helen,  I  don't  want  anything." 
"  Don't  want  anything !  "     It  was  Helen's  time 
to  repeat  now.     "  Why,  what  will  you  wear  to 
_when  — "  and  Helen  paused.      Maria's  face 
paled,  but  her  voice  was  steady. 

"  I  suppose  you  mean  to  the  funeral.  I  pre 
sume  I  shall  wear  my  empress,  as  I  have  nothing 
else  to  wear ;  but  I  haven't  given  the  moment 
ous  question  of  dress  a  thought  to-day." 

*k  But  it  is  necessary  to  think.  You  can't  al 
ways  be  a  child,  Maria.  Don't  you  remember 
that  your  empress  is  brown  ?" 

"  Yes,  I  remember  it.     I  am  quite  willing  to 
wear  brown,  just  as  1  always  have  done." 
Helen  sat  down  with  a  gesture  of  despair. 
"Don't  make  my  task  harder  than  is  neces 
sary,"  she  said,  wearily.     "  You  cannot  think  how 
hard  it  is  at  best.     Of  course  we  will  all  wear 


94  Household  Puzzlt*. 

black  because  it  is  proper  to  do  so.  The  ques 
tion  now  to  be  decided  is,  how  much  we  each 
need." 

"  But,  Helen,  I  don't  think  that  is  the  question 
to  decide.  I  don't  want  to  put  on  black  at  all. 
If  we  had  plenty  of  money  to  waste,  which  we 
haven't,  it  does  not  seem  to  me  that  it  is  the  time 
to  plan  and  twist  and  turn  about  new  clothes. 
But  the  main  objection  is  that  it  is  expensive,  and 
we  have  need  to  economize." 

4.  quickly  suppressed  exclamation  of  surprise 
from  Miss  Allen  did  not  escape  Helen's  notice, 
and  tier  pale  cheek  flushed.  She  was  deeply  sen 
sitive  to  public  opinion. 

"  Maria,  don't  be  so  childish,"  she  said,  with  an 
impatient  movement.  "  Of  course  we  are  not 
rich,  everybody  knows  that,  and  it  will  be  neces 
sary  for  us  to.  study  economy,  however  trying  it 
may  be  at  such  a  time ;  but  we  will  not  fail  in 
anything  that  can  in  any  way  show  respect  to 
mother.  She  was  too  dear  a  mother  for  that," 
and  Helen's  lip  quivered. 

Maria  only  grew  paler. 

"  Mother  can  not  possibly  care  about  such 
things  now,"  she  ^aid,  steadily.  "  I  can  not  see 
how  one  color  can  be  considered  more  respectful 
than  another,  and  I  think  we  ought  not  to  burden 
father  with  any  unnecessary  expense.  He  has 
quite  enough  to  bear  now." 


Mourning  and  Dressmaking.  95 

"Ermina,"  said  Helen,  facing  about  to  her, 
"  had  any  other  idea  occurred  to  you  than  that  of 
course  we  would  wear  mourning?" 

"  I  haven't  thought  of  it  to-day  only  when  you 
spoke  of  it.  I  took  it  for  granted  that  everything 
was  settled.  Why,  yes,  I  suppose  we  will  have 
to." 

"  Grace,  have  you  thought  differently  from 
this  ? " 

Grace  confessed  that  she  supposed  they  would 
wear  black  as  a  matter  of  course,  but  she  was 
quite  willing  not  to  do  it  if  it  was  thought  best. 
It  had  always  seemed  to  her  a  strange  sort  of 
custom. 

Helen  turned  back  to  Maria. 

"  You  see,  Maria,  you  are  the  only  one  who  has 
any  desire  to  do  anything  strange  and  out  of  the 
ordinary  line  of  common  propriety,  and  as  you  are 
the  youngest  I  think  you .  have  detained  Miss 
Allen  quite  long  enough ;  her  time  is  precious, 
you  know.  Can  you  decide  now  as  to  what  you 
need  ? " 

No,  Maria  could  not  decide  further  than  that 
she  believed  the  expense  to  be  an  unnecessary 
one,  and  had  quite  determined  in  her  own  mind 
to  oppose  it  for  the  sake  of  the  father  who  had 
burdens  enough  to  bear. 

"  Isn't  it  rather  a  trying  time  in  which  to  pro 
pose  new  measures  to  your  poor  father?  It 


96  Household  Puzzles. 

would  seem  hard  to  intrude  questions  of  dress  on 
him  now."  It  was  Miss  Allen's  decorous,  smooth' 
ly  modulated  voice  that  proposed  this  question, 
and  Helen  promptly  answered  it. 

"  Of  course  it  is.  Even  if  we  thought  of  mak 
ing  ourselves  conspicuous  by  unusual  proceedings 
it  would  be  cruel  to  force  father's  attention  to 
such  a  trivial  matter  now  ;  but  ray  sister  is  young 
and  thoughtless,  Miss  Allen.  Ermina,  we  must 
trim  with  crape,  I  suppose.  Are  you  particular 
as  to  quality  ?  " 

Maria's  face  flushed.  It  was  decided1^  not  her 
nature  to  endure  in  meekness.  She  spoke  with 
unusual  sharpness. 

"  Helen,  you  are  absurd  to  talk  in  that  manner. 
You  know  father  will  not  even  know  whether  our 
dresses  are  black  or  yellow  if  we  don't  enlighten 
him;  but  he  will  know  all  about  the  enormous 
bills  to  be  paid ;  and  if  you  really  want  to  save 
him  trouble  you  will  take  care  how  you  lay  such 
an  unnecessary  burden  on  him.  As  for  making 
ourselves  conspicuous  that  is  nonsense.  Very  re 
spectable  people  get  along  without  burying  them 
selves  in  crape  and  bombazine;  and  I  for  one 
shall  not  consent  to  any  such  thing,"  and  Maria 
walked  majestically  from  the  room. 

"How  old  is  Miss  Maria?"  questioned  Miss 
A.llen,  pointedly,  as  the  door  closed  after  her. 

"Just  fifteen.     She  is  a  spoiled  child,  Miss 


Mourning  and  Dressmaking.  97 

Allen.  Poor  mother's  health  lias  been  so  frail 
that  Maria  has  been  allowed  to  indulge  her  queer 
notions,  until  she  really  forgets  that  she  is  a 
woman.  We  shall  have  to  leave  the  question  of 
her  dress  until  to-morrow.  Come  in  the  morn 
ing,  and  I  will  see  that  she  is  reduced  to  order  by 
that  time." 

Poor  Maria  shed  the  first  tears  that  had  been 
wrung  from  her  aching  eyes  after  she  went  up 
from  the  back  sitting-room  and  the  smooth 
tongued  dressmaker.  In  a  sense  her  sister's  com 
ment,  that  she  did  not  hear,  was  true.  She  felt 
like  a  woman  of  forty.  It  was  a  long  time  since 
she  remembered  feeling  like  a  child.  Helen  had 
forgot  to  mention  that  the  cares  and  burdens  of 
life  had  pressed  so  heavily  on  her  young  sister  as 
to  crush  out  the  youthful  ness.  That  hour  spent 
on  her  bed,  her  face  buried  in  the  pillows,  her 
self  given  over  to  bitter  weeping,  was  an  hour  of 
work  to  Helen,  the  result  of  which  was  that  Grace 
came  to  know  if  Maria  could  go  down  to  father's 
room,  he  wanted  to  see  her. 

"What  does  he  want?"  she  asked,  springing 
from  the  bed,  bathing  her  swollen  eyes,  smooth 
ing  her  hair,  and  rapidly  arranging  her  toilet. 
Grace  didn't  know,  only  as  she  passed  his  door 
he  opened  it,  and  told  her  to  ask  Maria  to  come 
to  him  a  few  minutes.  Maria  had  seen  hin^  for 
but  a  few  minutes  during  that  first  terrible  hour, 
7 


98  Household  Puzzles. 

when  the  shock  was  at  its  heaviest  with  him. 
He  had  grown  calm  now,  but  he  looked  older  by 
ten  years  than  he  had  two  days  before.  This 
youngest  daughter  knew  belter  than  did  any  of 
the  others  of  the  family  what  the  fragile  little 
mother  was  to  him.  She  longed  to  throw  her 
arms  around  his  neck,  and  rain  kisses  and  tears 
on  the  worn,  haggard  face  ;  but  such  had  not  been 
her  education,  nor  indeed  was  it  her  nature;  self- 
controlled  Maria  had  been  even  in  her  baby 
hood. 

"Will  you  have  a  cup  of  tea  now,  father ?" 
was  all  the  greeting  she  gave  him. 

"Not  now,  daughter.  Sit  down  a  few  min 
utes,  I  want  to  talk  with  you.  What  is  it  Helen 
is  trying  to  explain  about  this  dress  question  ?  '' 

Maria's  face  flushed.  This  then  was  Helen's 
consideration  for  father.  She  hesitated,  and 
looked  away  from  her  father's  pale  face  and  deep 
sunken  eyes.  It  seemed  very  hard  to  speak  of 
crape  and  ribbon  and  the  funeral,  and  mother  just 
across  the  hall  in  that  cold  sleep. 

"  I  don't  understand  such  matters,  you  know, 
daughter.  Can't  it  be  arranged  without  me  ?  " 
There  was  almost  a  pleading  sound  in  Mr.  Ran 
dolph's  voice.  "  /  think  it  might  have  been." 

Maria  said  quickly, — 

"  But  it  seems  Helen  did  not.  I  don't  want  to 
wear  black,  father.  It  is  an  unnecessary  ex- 


Mourning  and  Dressmaking.  99 

pense,  and  I  for  one  haven't  the  heart  to  plan 
clothes  at  such  a  time." 

"  But  Helen  thinks  it  will  be  a  great  impro 
priety  not  to.  We  want  to  do  everything  de 
cently  and  without  unnecessary  talk.  I  wouldn't 
want  to  do  anything  that  would  appear  in  the 
least  like  disrespect  to  your  dear  mother." 

"Do  you  think  it  makes  any  difference  to 
mother  now  what  colored  clothes  we  wear  ? 
Doesn't  she  know  that  I  love  her  just  as  much, 
and  mourn  her  just  as  sincerely  this  evening  in 
my  brown  wrapper  as  I  should  to-morrow  in 
black  bombazine  ?  " 

Mr.  Randolph  moved  restlessly  in  his  chair. 

"  I  don't  doubt  that  you  are  right,  daughter. 
These  things  arf  of  no  consequence  to  me. 
They  are  trifles  :  \  your  mother's  eyes  at  this  mo 
ment.  I  have  no  ionbt  but  Helen  feels  differ 
ently,  and  she  says  that  Errmna  and  Grace  agree 
with  her,  and  Helen  is  the  oldest,  you  know ;  she 
is  in  your  mother's  place  now.  Let  us  have  no 
trouble  that  we  can  avoid.  We  must  learn  to 
yield  our  own  wishes,  you  and  I." 

"But,  father,  about  the  bills.  Do  you  know 
that  it  will  involve  a  great  expense,  especially  if 
it  is  all  left  to  Helen's  management.  Her  taste 
is  highly  cultivated  in  that  direction.  How  will 
we  ever  pay  the  bills  ?  " 


100  Household  Puzzles. 

A  spasm  as  of  pain  crossed  the  pale,  worn  face, 
but  Mr.  Randolph  spoke  quickly, — 

"  We  shall  manage  in  some  way.  Life  is  very 
hard.  A  few  more  bills  more  or  less  can  not  make 
it  much  harder.  I  do  not  mean  to  murmur, 
though.  Let  us  have  peace,  Maria,  at  any  price." 


CHAPTER  IX. 

DEBTS    AND  DOUBTS. 


r,  HERE  certainly  must  be  people  in  this 
[5    world  who  can  not  afford  to  die  !  " 


She  did  not  say  it  recklessly,  nor  with 
even  the  semblance  of  carelessness;  on 
the  contrary  her  face  expressed  intense 
and  painful  feeling.  She  stood  in  the  back  par 
lor  by  the  table  which  was  half  covered  with 
sheets  of  paper  in  various  stages  of  fold  and 
crumple.  It  was  Maria,  of  course  ;  no  one  in  the 
Randolph  family  besides  Maria  ever  made  such 
startling  remarks. 

The  funeral  was  over;  indeed,  two  weeks  had 
passed  since  they  laid  their  mother  away.  It  had 
been  a  solemn  funeral,  and  Mrs.  Jenkins,  the 
undertaker's  wife,  had  pronounced  the  details 
unobjectionable.  What  Mrs.  Jenkins  meant  by 

101 


102  Household  Puzzles. 

that  may  be  obscure  to  the  minds  of  some,  but 
Helen  Randolph  understood  her  perfectly.  That 
young  lady  had  an  eye  for  details  ;  she  had  meant 
them  to  be  unobjectionable.  An  unskilled  looker- 
on  would  have  said  that  everything  was  very  neat 
and  plain  and  appropriate.  Ah  !  to  be  very  neat 
and  plain  and  appropriate  at  funerals  means  to  pay 
somebody  a  good  deal  of  money.  The  four  daugh 
ters  were  shrouded  in  long  crape  vails,  and  about 
the  details  of  their  dress  everything  was  appro 
priate  also,  from  the  perfect-fitting  Alexandre 
kids  lo  the  wide  black  bordered  cambric  hand 
kerchiefs.  The  velvet-covered  casket  which  was 
their  mother's  last  resting-place  was  literally  cov 
ered  over  with  rare  and  beautiful  white  flowers, 
such  as  blossom  in  January,  only  for  money. 
Some  of  them  were  love  tokens  from  outside 
friends ;  others  of  them  were  of  Helen's  own 
ordering  and  selection.  "  Dear  mother  loved 
flowers  so  much,"  she  had  said.  From  the  main 
entrance  door  floated  the  long  crape  signals  of 
death ;  the  arm  of  each  bearer  was  festooned 
with  crape ;  the  hands  of  each  bearer  were  cov 
ered  with  decorous  black  kids,  furnished  by  the 
family. 

"Everybody  does  it,"  Helen  had  said,  when 
Maria  protested.  The  carriages  were  numerous 
and  costly ;  the  hearse  with  its  solemn  black 
plumes  was  the  new  several  thousand  dollar  one, 


Debts  and  Doubts.  103 

that  had  only  been  used  twice  before,  for  Mrs, 
Judge  Westervelt  and  General  Wallace  Thorpe. 
Certainly  the  most  uncharitable  and  censorious 
looker-on  of  them  all  could  not  say  that  every 
possible  and  conceivable  token  of  respect  had  not 
been  paid  to  that  fair  piece  of  clay  which  they 
finally  covered  with  its  native  dust. 

Now  it  was  two  weeks  afterward,  and  Maria 
had  been  looking  over  and  summing  up  the  bills. 
Do  you  wonder  at  her  utterly  dismayed  exclama 
tion,  "  There  must  be  some  people  in  this  world 
who  cannot  afford  to  die!  " 

Ermina  came  presently  into  the  back  room, 
paused  a  moment  irresolute  as  she  saw  her  sis 
ter's  occupation,  then  slowly  advanced.  Ermina 
would  have  preferred  to  shirk  that  business  if  she 
could.  "  How  are  we  ever  to  pay  them  ?  " 

This  was  the  one  tremendous  thought  weigh 
ing  on  Maria's  heart,  and  she  spoke  it. 

"Father  will  probably  attend  to  that."  Er 
mina  tried  to  look  and  speak  with  indifference. 

"  Ermina,  that  is  nonsense,"  Maria  said,  sharp 
ly.  "  Don't  play  Helen,  and  pretend  not  to  know 
that  father  has  nothing  to  pay  with  and  no 
strength  to  bestow  on  them.  They  are  enor 
mous." 

"  I  know  it,"  said  Ermina,  taking  up  her  own 
character  again.  "  I  am  quite  as  much  appalled 
as  you  can  possibly  desire.  I  don't  see  our  way 


104  Household  Puzzles. 

out  of  this  labyrinth.  I  have  wondered  a  hun 
dred  times  within  the  last  two  weeks  what  was  to 
become  of  us  all." 

»'  Ermina,  it  is  late  in  the  day  to  ask  you  about 
this,  but  I  do  want  to  know,  since  you  really  saw 
the  danger  ahead,  why  you  didn't  protest  against 
all  this  needless  waste  of  money  ?  " 

Ermina  opened  her  eyes  very  wide.  "  I  am 
sure  I  don't  know  what  you  mean,"  she  said, 
gravely.  "  I  didn't  know  there  had  been  any 
needless  expense,  or  at  least  very  little,  none  to 
signify." 

"  There  isn't  fifty  dollars'  worth  in  all  these 
bills  that  would  come  under  the  head  of  neces 
sary  expenses." 

Ermina  smiled  grimly.  "  Your  idea  of  *  neces 
sary  '  and  Helen's  would  differ,  I  presume.  You 
have  some  queer  fancies,  you  know.  Now,  I 
hate  bills  as  much  as  you  possibly  can,  but  I 
don't  see  how,  in  our  position,  we  could  avoid 
wearing  mourning  without  making  an  outrageous 
talk." 

"  What  is  our  position,  Ermina  ?  " 

Ermina  laughed. 

"  It  might  be  hard  to  define,"  she  said,  with 
sarcasm.  "  Helen  wants  us  to  be  considered  as 
belonging  to  the  first  society,  and  so  long  as  Mrs. 
Monroe  and  the  Conklings  invite  her  to  their  par 
ties  I  suppose  we  are." 


Debts  and  Doubts.  105 

"Jean  define  our  position.  It  is  a  continuous 
scramble  after  something  to  eat  and  wear,  without 
defrauding  people  out  of  their  just  dues.  Under 
such  circumstances  to  have  worn  brown  or  gray, 
or  any  color  that  we  happened  to  have,  would  be 
infinitely  more  respectable,  and  make  less  talk, 
than  to  live  on  the  charity,  or  at  least  the  for 
bearance  of  our  friends.  I  tell  you  I  don't  see 
how  we  are  to  live  at  all." 

"We  might  go  to  the  poor-house,"  Ermina 
suggested,  gravely.  It  was  evidently  all  the  conn- 
sel  that  she  had  to  offer,  and  Maria  turned  away,, 
only  saying  in  the  same  cold,  half-indifferent  tone 
that  her  sister  had  used, — 

"It  would  make  an  'outrageous'  talk,  you 
would  find ;  and,  besides, '  they '  don't  wear  crape 
and  bombazine  at  the  poor-house." 

"  You  are  sharp,"  said  Ermina.     "  In  fact,  you 
are  almost  cross.     I  wish  you  would  leave  that 
part  of  the  programme  to  Helen,  she  excels  in  it; 
and  since  you  are  the  youngest  you  certainly 
won't  have  to  be  responsible  for  the  bills,  so  1 
wouldn't  worry  myself  into  a  fever  if  I  were 
you."     And  Ermina  left  the  room  and  the  bills 
and  went  away  up  stairs  to  brood  over  the  state 
of  affairs,  and  exhibit  more  sympathy  to  the  four 
walls  of  her  room  than  she  would  have  dreamed 
of  showing  to  her  sister.     It  was  one  of  the  mis 
eries  of  this  Randolph  family  that  they  lived  in 
sheila. 


106  Household  Puzzles. 

Maria  sat  down  again  and  pondered  the  pitiless 
staving  figures  in  dumb  dismay ;  the  sum  total  was 
so  much  more  than  even  she,  who  had  tried  to 
keep  a  sharp  lookout,  had  imagined.  She  knew 
it  was  much  more  than  her  father  had  even 
dreamed  of.  "  If  there  was  only  some  one  to  go 
to  for  counsel  or  even  for  pity,"  she  said,  wearily. 
*•  What  do  the  girls  think,  I  wonder  ?  People 
must  think,  it  seems  to  me,  even  though  they  were 
not  willing  to  let  any  one  know  it.  I  just  won 
der  what  Helen  would  say  to  all  these  ?  I  mean 
to  go  and  ask  her.  She  certainly  ought  to  know 
the  result  of  her  management."  She  gathered  up 
an  army  of  bills  and  went  up  to  Helen's  room. 
That  young  lady  was  engaged  in  retrimming  her 
hat,  and  as  the  plume  she  attempted  to  fasten 
showed  all  the  obstinacy  and  depravity  belonging 
to  plumes,  the  owner  of  it  was  not  in  a  pleasant 
mood  to  confront.  Maria  did  not  wait  for  moods; 
she  marched  without  preface  into  her  subject. 

*'  Helen,  what  is  to  be  done  about  all  these 
bills?" 

"  They  are  to  be  left  on  the  library  table,  I 
presume.  That  is  where  bills  are  generally  kept." 

"  But  I  mean  how  are  they  to  be  paid  ?  " 

"  With  money,  I  should  imagine." 

"  Helen,  I  wish  you  wouldn't  be  so  very  sharp. 
I  have  come  for  suggestions  if  you  have  any  to 
offer.  If  you  really  have  no  interest  in  the  mat 
ter  I  may  as  well  go  back." 


Debts  and  Doubts.  107 

"  I  have  an  interest  just  now  in  my  hat.  I 
wish  it  was  back  in  the  shop  where  it  came  from. 
It  is  the  most  unbecoming  thing  I  ever  had  on 
my  head." 

"  I  wish  it  was  paid  for.  Have  you  any  idea 
how  much  it  cost?  " 

"  Not  the  slightest,  and  I  don't  care.  It  is  just 
as  plain  and  simple  as  anything  I  could  get,  and 
therefore  my  conscience  is  clear.  People  will 
have  to  be  decent  in  this  world." 

"  But,  Helen,  will  it  be  considered  decent  not 
to  pay  for  it?" 

The  plume  stood  straight  up  now,  one  end 
poking  slightly  forward ;  besides,  Helen  had 
pricked  her  finger ;  her  patience  was  utterly  ex 
hausted  ;  she  spoke  angrily. 

"  Do,  Maria,  hush.  You  are  perfectly  insane 
over  affairs  that  in  no  way  belong  to  you.  It  is 
ridiculous  that  the  youngest  in  the  house  should 
take  us  all  to  task  in  the  way  you  do.  Let  the 
bills  alone,  and  all  other  matters  that  don't  in  the 
least  concern  you.  That  is  my  suggestion,  if  you 
really  want  one  from  me." 

Maria  gathered  up  her  papers,  and  walked  with 
steady  step  and  burning  cheek  out  of  the  room. 

"  If  there  is  anything  earthly  that  I  want  it  is 
a  friend."  This  she  said  with  dry  eyes,  but  with 
a  strange  choking  in  her  voice. 

Poor,   foolish    child  I      There    was    a  Friend 


108  Household  Puzzles 

greater  than  any  earthly,  who  was  waiting  for  a 
chance  to  suggest,  to  sympathize,  to  shield,  but 
she  passed  Him  by  and  struggled  on  alone. 

Grace  came  through  the  hall  humming  a  tune. 
It  was  a  sweet,  tender  little  tune,  and  Grace 
hummed  it  a  great  deal ;  and  Maria  with  the  rest 
had  imagined  that  this  daughter  sang  because  she 
was  by  nature  lighter  hearted,  and  grief  touched 
her  more  gently  than  it  did  the  rest. 

"  I  wonder  if  it  has  so  much  as  occurred  to  Grace 
that  there  is  such  a  thing  as  a  debt  to  be  paid  ?  " 
Maria  said,  listening  to  the  song.  "  I  mean  to  ask 
her."  She  went  to  the  door  and  called. 

"  Have  you  any  idea  how  these  are  all  to  be 
paid  ?  "  she  questioned,  as  Grace  came  up  to  the 
table,  with  the  tune  still  hovering  around  her  lips. 

"  Have  you  counted  them  ?  How  much  is  it  ? 
Does  father  know  ?  " 

"You  always  ask  three  questions  at  once, 
Grace.  Yes,  I  have  counted  them,  and  they 
amount  to  enough.  I  dread  to  tell  father  any 
thing  about  it.  If  there  were  only  some  way  in 
which  /could  help  him  to  pay  them." 

Grace  ceased  her  humming,  but  she  drummed 
the  notes  of  the  song  on  the  green  baize  of  the 
table.  It  annoyed  Maria.  A  good  deal  had  oc 
curred  to  annoy  her  that  day. 

"  You    never  think  of  anything  but  music 
she  said,  irritably. 


Debts  and  Doubts.  109 

"  I'm  thinking  of  it  now  to  some  purpose." 
Grace  spoke  lightly.  "  Thinking  of  giving  it 
up  —  the  lessons,  you  know.  Spring  isn't  a 
pleasant  time  for  practicing,  and  I  have  several 
other  things  that  I  want  to  do.  The  new  term 
opens  to-morrow,  but  I  have  quite  decided  not 
to  enter  my  name  at  present.  What  do  you 
think  of  it?" 

"  I  think  it  tus  very  little  to  do  with  the 
question  before  us,  as  to  the  paying  of  these 
bills,"  Maria  said,  coldly. 

"  Why,  yes  it  has,  just  a  little.  Music  lessons 
are  expensive  articles,  and  the  money  I  have  in 
my  purse  ready  for  the  '  payment  invariably  in 
advance '  that  is  always  required,  will  make  one 
bill  smaller  at  least." 

"  It  would  be  but  a  drop  in  the  bucket,"  Ma 
ria  said,  forlornly. 

"  I  know  ;  but  one  drop  helps  to  fill  the  buck 
et  after  all.  Here's  Madame  La  Farge's  bill. 
Milliners'  accounts  are  always  the  most  disagree 
able  to  let  stand.  I  can  pay  that  and  have  a 
part  of  a  drop  left,  and  father  need  not  be  trou 
bled  with  anything  about  it.  As  for  the  others, 
they  will  have  their  day  somehow.  Don't  be 
worried,  Maria." 

"  So  Helen's  bonnet  is  paid  for  after  all,"  thus 
soliloquized  Maria.  Grace's  voice  reached  her 
from  the  upper  stair ;  she  was  trilling  the  notei 
of  the  same  tender  song. 


£10  Household  Puzzles 

"  She  is  as  light-hearted  as  a  b  itterfly,"  coo 
tinued  this  youngest  sister.  u  I'm  sure  I  wish  1 
could  be  like  her  and  let  care  alone.  I  thought 
she  was  devoted  to  her  music  lessons,  but  it 
seems  she  is  tired  of  them,  which  is  a  fortunate 
thing  for  Madame  La  Farge." 

The  words  of  the  song  that  Grace  sang,  over 
and  over  again,  were, — 

"  It  may  not  be  my  way, 
It  may  not  be  thy  way, 
But  yet  in  His  own  way, 
The  Lord  will  provide." 

There  are  matters  wherein  sharp,  quick-witted 
girls  like  Maria  Randolph  show  themselves  to  be 
utterly  stupid. 

There  was  just  one  more  member  of  the  fami 
ly  to  coasult.  That  was  Tom.  It  was  while 
Maria  was  clearing  away  the  tea  things  that  the 
subject  of  her  anxious  thought  came  to  light 
again. 

"  Tom,  do  you  know  the  amount  of  the 
bills?" 

"  Not  in  exact  figures ;  but  I  know  they  must 
be  stunning,  When  Helen  is  at  the  helm  look 
out  lor  bills.  ' 

»•  Well,  have  you  any  idea  what  we  shall  do 
about  paying  them  ?  You  see  our  necessary  ex 
penses  take  up  every  bit  of  the  salary,  and  more, 
too ;  and  where  these  extras  are  to  come  in, 
(  0*1. 't  imagine." 


Debts  and  Doubts.  Ill 

"I  know,"  he  said,  gloomily.  "1  clout  see 
what  is  to  become  of  our  family,  anyway.  You 
can't  imagine  how  much  I  envy  Peter  and 
his  regular  employment,  whereby  he  earns  his 
board  and  clothing.  I  don't  see  •^J  *vay  out  of 
it.  I  can't  get  anything  to  do.  I've  tried  all 
this  week.  I  really  am  not  lying  idle  of  choice, 
though  Helen  is  kind  enough  to  insinuate  it 
pretty  often." 

Maria  was  not  wont  to  be  silent,  especially 
when  she  and  Tom  were  together ;  but  on  this 
particular  evening  she  rattled  the  tea-cups  more 
than  seemed  at  all  necessary,  at  least  to  Tom, 
but  as  far  as  words  were  concerned  was  dumb. 

Tom  looked  steadily  at  her  for  a  few  minutes, 
then  at  the  cups  and  saucers,  and  inwardly 
wished  they  were  in  Jericho.  Presently  he 
spoke  again. 

"  Now,  Maria,  on  your  word  and  honor,  what 
do  you  think  you  would  do  if  you  were  in  my 
place?" 

"  I  may  be  mistaken,"  Maria  began,  with  un 
usual  meekness.  "  I  dare  say  I  am ;  because  I 
know  that  not  being  in  your  place  alters  the 
case  wonderfully  ;  but  I  think  that  if  I  were  in 
your  place  I  would  saw  wood  for  Mr.  Evans,  or, 
failing  in  that,  drive  the  cows  for  Mr.  Thornton, 
or  turn  the  grindstone  for  old  Pete." 

"  Or  wear  the  oilcloth  coat  that  Messrs.  Cook 


112  Household  Puzzles. 

&  Co.  provide  for  that  industrious  employe  who 
marches  up  and  down  the  street  exhibiting  him 
self,  to  announce  that  T  &  KofE  R  sold  here," 
interrupted  Tom,  with  a  little  sharpness  in  the 
voice  that  „  ^  trying  to  be  steady.  "  That's 
what  the  coat  says,  Maria  —  in  red  letters,  just 
in  this  style,"  and  he  held  up  to  her  view 
the  slip  of  paper  on  which  he  had  been  printing. 
"  I  saw  the  chap  who  wears  it  to-day,  and  I 
couldn't  help  admiring  his  industry.  Thank 
you  for  your  advice,  I'll  take  it  into  considera 
tion." 

"  I  didn't  mean  to  be  sharp,  Tom,"  Maria  said 
in  dismay.  "  But  I  do  feel  so  troubled  about 
everything.  There  doesn't  seem  to  be  anything 
that  anybody  can  do." 

"  Yes,  there  is ;  we  can  all  worry  with  all  our 
might,  and  that  helps  matters  along  amazingly, 
makes  home  pleasant,  you  know.  Don't  imagine 
I'm  blaming  }'ou.  I'm  a  worthless,  useless  fel 
low  ;  no  one  knows  it  better  than  I  do  myself. 
Your  suggestions  are  not  practical  after  all,  be 
cause  Peter  saws  Mr.  Evans'  wood  at  odd  hours, 
and  they  don't  drive  cows  to  pasture  in  February 
in  this  climate,  and  old  Pete  has  tumbled  on  his 
grindstone  and  broken  his  leg.  I've  been  con 
sidering  all  these  avenues  to  employment,  you 
see ;  but  they  are  like  the  rest,  closed  to  me." 

Tom   was  evidently  hurt.     He   went  out  a*" 


Debts  and  Doubts. 


113 


once,  and  Maria  saw  him  no  more  that  evening. 
This,  then,  was  all  that  her  planning  had  accom 
plished.  She  shed  some  bitter  tears  over  her 
troubles  that  night,  but  they  only  served  to 
make  her  eyes  red  and  give  her  a  headache 
for  the  next  day,  and  she  could  not  help  feeling 
that  her  life,  too,  was  out  of  joint. 
8 


CHAPTER  X. 


LIGHT  WITHOUT  LOGIC. 

OM  did  not  appear  at  breakfast  the  next 
morning.  Grace  had  seen  him  go  down 
Chauncy  Street  quite  early. 

"  My     window     overlooks     Chauncy 
Street,  you  know,"  she  said,  in  explana 
tion,  to  her  father. 

"  What  can  take  him  to  that  part  of  the  town 
I  wonder,"  Mr.  Randolph  said ;  and  in  Maria's 
heart  there  was  a  vague  unrest. 

"  What  can  take  him  anywhere  at  this  hour  of 
the  day  ? "  Helen  said.  "  Tom  isn't  given  to 
early  morning  walks." 

He  came  in  just  before  Mr.  Randolph  was 
ready  to  leave,  a  little  flushed,  with  a  sort  01 
triumph  in  his  eyes  that  Maria  did  not  under 
stand  and  did  not  like. 

"What  will  happen  next,  I  wonder?     I  am 
114 


Light  without  Logic.  115 

prepared  for  anything,  now  that  you  have  taken 
to  early  rising." 

Tliis  was  Helen's  greeting. 

"  Perhaps  the  next  wonder  will  be  that  you 
will  take  to  doing  something  useful."  He  said  it 
good-naturedly  enough,  but  with  the  usual  under 
tone  of  sarcasm.  "  /  have,  at  least.  Father,  1 
have  secured  a  situation  at  last." 

Mr.  Randolph's  eyes  brightened. 

"Have  you?"  he  said,  heartily.  "That  is 
very  cheering  in  these  depressing  times.  What 
have  you  found  ?  " 

"  I  heard,  last  evening,  that  there  was  a  va 
cancy  in  Harter  &  Wicks'  store,  and  I  rushed 
after  it  this  morning  the  first  thing.  There  were 
several  ahead  of  me,  but  I  proved  to  be  the  fa 
vored  one."  He  addressed  his  father,  but  his 
dancing,  wicked  eyes  were  fixed  on  Maria's  face. 

The  information  he  gave  was  variously  re 
ceived.  Helen  exclaimed  in  dismay  or  disgust, 
it  was  impossible  to  tell  which;  Ermina  laughed; 
Grace  looked  distressed;  while  Maria,  with 
cheeks  flaming,  and  eyes  that  filled  with  angry 
tears,  looked  only  on  her  plate,  and  was  utterly 
silent.  Mr.  Randolph's  voice  was  full  of  distress. 

"  Thomson,  how  could  you  do  anything  so  rash  ? 
Times  are  hard  enough  ;  but  we  are  not  in  actual 
need.  And  if  we  were,  we  would  rather  all 
starve  together  than  to  have  you  descend  to  this.1' 


116  Household  Puzzles. 

"  And  father  an  officer  in  the  State  Temper 
ance  Society  I  "  Ermina  said  laughing. 

"  It's  an  absolute  disgrace,"  Helen  said,  with 
flashing  eyes. 

"  I  don't  know,"  Tom  said,  composedly  break 
ing  his  egg.  "  Is  it  much  worse  to  sell  the  stuff 
than  it  is  to  drink  it?  There's  your  friend, 
Horace  Monroe,  patronizes  the  establishment. 
He  was  even  out  this  morning.  Now,  if  he 
drinks  wine  somebody  must  sell  it  to  him,  and 
why  not  I  as  well  as  any  other?  Father,  I 
couldn't  help  it.  I  had  to  do  something.  You 
know  how  hard  I  have  tried  to  secure  something 
decent  to  do.  Everything  failed  me,  and  I  was 
goaded  on,  partly  by  my  own  conscience  and 
partly  by  the  consciences  of  other  people." 

Even  at  this  Maria  did  not  raise  her  head. 

"  I  would  rather  have  lived  on  bread  and 
water,"  Mr.  Randolph  said,  pitifully. 

"Now  that's  pretty  hard  on  a  fellow,  isn't  it? 
• — especially  when  he  has  done  the  best  that  he 
could.  It  must  be  an  honest,  respectable  busi 
ness,  or  the  law  wouldn't  permit  it,  and  respect 
able  Christian  people  wouldn't  vote  for  it  nor 
patronize  it.  Things  are  mixed,  father,  I'm  will 
ing  to  admit  that." 

"  J  don't  vote  for  it,  nor  patronize  it,"  Mr. 
Randolph  said,  firmly. 

"  I  know  it,  sir,"  Tom  said,  and  his  voice  was 


Light  without  Logic.  117 

almost  tender.  "  I  know  that  very  well ;  and  if 
there  were  more  men  like  you  it  wouldn't  be 
voted  for,  and  there  would  be  no  chanoe  for  me 
to  sell  it ;  but  you  see  men  are  not  modeled  after 
your  pattern.  Dr.  Evans  votes  for  it,  you  know, 
and  Mr.  Wheeler,  and  Mr.  Harris,  and  a  host  of 
others  too  numerous  to  mention  —  every  one  of 
them  members  of  your  own  church  -  to  say  noth 
ing  of  the  large  company  who  have  it  in  their  cel 
lars,  and  closets,  and  medicine  cases.  Don't  you 
see  things  are  horribly  mixed  ?  " 

The  sentence  commenced  in  respectful  tender 
ness  ended  in  good-humored  mockery;  but  Mr. 
Randolph's  face  retained  the  pained,  grieved  look 
as  he  answered, — 

"You  and  I,  Thomson,  have  nothing  to  do 
with  any  one  but  you  and  me  in  this  matter. 
God  doesn't  require  us  to  keep  the  consciences 
of  other  men  ;  and  I  would  rather  live  all  my  life 
on  bread  and  water  than  to  have  my  son  sell 
rum,"  and  Mr.  Randolph  went  with  »slow  and 
feeble  step  from  the  room. 

"  It  is  too  bad  ! ''  Ermina  said,  indignantly. 
"  Father  has  quite  enough  to  bear  without  this.'* 

"I  think  as  much!"  This  from  Helen.  "  Tom, 
if  you  have  no  self-respect  left,  nor  a  partk\e  of 
regard  for  your  sisters,  one  would  have  supposed 
that  you  might  have  remembered  your  father  ' 

"1  did  remember  him,  Lady  Helen,  and 


118  Household  Puzzles. 

fore  concluded  to  relieve  him  of  my  support. 
That  is  considerate,  certainly ;  at  least  you  ought 
to  think  so,  lor  the  times  that  you  have  hinted 
something  of  the  sort  to  me  can  not  be  num 
bered." 

How  long  this  interesting  conversation  would 
have  continued,  had  there  been  no  interruption, 
it  is  impossible  to  say.  Fortunately  the  door-bell 
summoned  both  Helen  and  Ermina  to  a  confer 
ence  in  the  hall,  and  the  family  party  broke  up. 

Tom  lingered  in  the  dining-room,  while  Maria 
cleared  the  table.  He  drummed  thoughtfully 
on  the  window-pane  and  wished  his  solemn-faced 
sister  would  speak.  He  had  told  the  truth  ai 
the  breakfast  table,  but  not  the  whole  truth 
The  situation  was  his,  provided  he  choose  to 
accept  it.  Pecuniarily,  the  offe^  was  a  tempting 
one.  Messrs.  Harter  &  Wicks  had  been  liberal 
and  persuasive.  Mr.  Randolph,  sonior,  had  been 
all  his  life  an  earnest  temperance  man ;  in  his 
prosperous  days  he  had  been  a  veiv  Influential 
one.  To  secure  his  son  as  clerk  in  an  establish 
ment  whose  main  business  was  selling  liquor 
would  be  a  delightful  triumph  over  the  temper 
ance  movement.  But  Tom  Randolph,  though 
by  no  means  a  temperance  man  from  principle 
still  hated  the  business  of  rum  selling  with  a  coi 
dial  hatred,  and  was  by  no  means  decided,  even 
in  his  desperate  state,  to  accept  the  onl}  posi- 


Light  without  Logic.  119 

tion  offered  him.  Maria's  words  had  jarred  on 
his  nature  —  all  the  more,  perhaps,  because  origi 
nally  his  lack  of  employment  was  his  own  fault. 
Mouths  before  this  he  might  have  secured  respect 
able  places,  and  many  a  parley  did  he  hold  with 
his  pride  over  them ;  but,  latterly,  when  pride 
was  utterly  vanquished  by  the  need  that  he  saw 
pressed  sorely,  every  avenue  had  seemed  closed. 
It  was  hard,  he  said  to  himself,  "  That  a  fellow 
must  be  witted  with  laziness,  when  he  stood 
ready  to  pick  stones  for  a  living,  if  only  he  could 
find  any  to  pick."  He  left  out  of  consideration 
the  fact  that  no  one  but  himself  knew  that  he 
had  made  any  attempt  at  stone-picking,  and' so 
he  nursed  his  wrath  until  Messrs.  Harter  & 
Wicks'  place  of  business  had  seemed  a  sweet  re 
venge.  Still  he  had  left  himself  an  hour  in 
which  to  escape.  "  If  I  am  not  here  by  nine 
o'clock,"  he  had  said  to  Mr.  Harter,  "  you  may 
understand  that  I  have  changed  my  mind."  It 
wanted  fifteen  minutes  to  nine.  His  mind  was 
almost  changed.  He  had  not  remembered  that 
besides  shocking  the  girls,  which  he  rather  en 
joyed,  he  would  also  shock  his  father.  That  was 
another  thing. 

"It  won't  pay,  I  guess,"  he  said  to  himself, 
thinking  of  his  father's '  worn,  troubled  face. 
"I'll  take  another  look."  If  only  that  solemn- 
faced  Maria  would  say  something.  Why 


120  Household  Puzzles. 

couldn't  she  have  known  what  an  influence  het 
sayings  had  over  this  brother  of  hers  ? 

"  You  don't  congratulate  me  on  my  success," 
he  said  at  last,  resolved  to  make  her  speak, 
which  however,  she  didn't  do.  Maria  rattled 
the  knives  and  dropped  a  teaspoon,  but  she  kept 
her  tongue  entirely  still.  "I  should  think  you 
might  be  more  agreeable  to  a  fellow  after  I've 
taken  your  latest  advice  and  found  something  to 
do  at  all  hazards.  Can't  you  even  wish  me  suc 
cess  as  salesman  ?  " 

"  I  have  nothing  whatever  to  say,"  Maria 
said  at  last,  and  she  said  it  with  dignity.  "  If  I 
cannot  speak  a  word  to  you  about  finding  em 
ployment,  when  you  know  as  well  as  I  do  the 
need  for  it,  and  when  you  asked  me  for  my  opin 
ion,  without  your  getting  angry  and  doing  some 
thing  directly  to  disgrace  the  entire  family,  why, 
the  more  I  keep  my  opinions  to  myself  the 
better  it  will  be  for  you,  and  I  intend  to  do 
it  after  this." 

*'  All  right,"  Tom  said,  and  he  seized  his  hat 
and  rushed  off  to  Messrs.  Harter  &  Wicks'  place 
of  business.  It  was  five  minutes  of  nine.  "  I'll 
do  it ! "  he  said  to  himself  on  the  way.  "  They're 
all  cross  together ;  it's  impossible  to  please  them, 
and  I  may  as  well  not  try.  I'll  earn  some  money 
anyway." 

As  for  Maria  she  cried  during  the  greater  part 


Light  without  Logic.  121 

of  the  morning,  making  her  nose  red  and  swollen, 
an-l  ~v  orgot  to  put  the  soda  in  her  bread, 
jo  me  lamily  ate  sour  bread  for  three  days  ;  but 
all  this  did  not  keep  her  brother  from  soiling 
whiskey  at  the  corner  store,  and  she  might  have 
done  it.  Maria  Randolph  had  made  two  mis 
takes.  She  thought  that  what  she  saw  in  a  per 
son's  life  was  all  that  there  was  to  see,  and  rea 
soned  accordingly  ;  also  she  knew  nothing  of  the 
practical  working  of  that  grand  old  "whatsoev 
er,"  therefore  she  worked  without  it.  "  Put 
yourself  in  his  place,"  a  writer  has  chosen  for  a 
title,,  and  no  doubt  he  thinks  it  a  strikingly  orig 
inal  idea.  Maria  Randolph  has  never  read  the 
book,  and  I  trust  she  never  will;  to  my  mind  she 
is  much  better  off  without  it;  but  both  she  and 
the  aforesaid  author  must  have  heard  of  the 
wonderful  words,  "  Whatsoever  ye  would  that 
men  should  do  to  you,  do  ye  even  so  to  them." 

All  this  happened  on  Saturday.  On  Sabbath, 
Tom  wandered  listlessly  from  room  to  room. 
Maria  was  still  on  her  dignity,  and  the  only  con 
versation  Tom  attempted  with  her  was  to  wish 
that  the  saloon  was  kept  open  on  Sunday,  to 
which  she  made  no  answer.  His  wanderings 
finally  took  him  to  the  back  kitchen,  where  Pe 
ter  Armstrong  had  the  privilege  of  sitting  of 
a  Sabbath  afternoon. 

"  Well,"    he  said,  halting  before  that  young 


122  Household  Puzzle*. 

man,  "how's  Peter  Bible?  .  I  see  you  have  his 
life  there.  I  haven't  heard  anything  *'*-"*  him 
for  some  time.  Have  you  discovered  wnuu  n*,, 
fellow's  other  name  is  ?  " 

"No,"  Peter  said,  "I  haven't  thought^ any 
thing  about  that  since.  I've  found  him,  though, 
again.  There's  a  spell  where  nothing  is  said 
about  him,  and  I  was  most  afraid  that  he  had 
stopped  following,  but  they  speak  of  him  again 
just  as  though  he  had  been  on  hand  most  of  the 
time,  and  I  guess  he  was." 

"  What  is  he  up  to  ?  "  Tom  asked,  taking  his 
favorite  seat  on  the  wood-box.  . 

"  He's  been  having  company,"  Peter  said, 
meditatively. 

"  Company  !  "  and  Tom's  tones  were  derisive. 
"I  didn't  know  he  was  given  to  that  sort  of 
thing.  Seems  to  me  it  was  rather  frivolous  in 
him,  just  like  people  now  days." 

"It  depends  some  on  the  company  you  happen 
to  have,  I  reckon." 

Tom  laughed. 

"  Oh,  well,  as  to  that,  Peter  wasn't  aristocratic 
in  those  days,  I  fancy.  I  presume  he  had  those 
brother  fishermen  to  dinner.  Very  likely  he  gave 
them  a  clam-bake,  though  I  suppose  that  isn't 
mentioned  in  the  Bible,  is  it?  " 

" No,"  Peter  said,  gravely.  *•  But  the  company 
is  by  name." 


Light  without  Logic.  123 

"Who  were  they?" 

"  Jesus  Christ."  Peter  spoke  the  name  slowly 
and  reverently.  The  effect  on  Tom  was  curious. 
He  started  from  the  wood-box  with  a  half-shocked 
face,  and  stared  in  silence  at  his  companion  for  a 
full  minute  before  his  surprise  found  vent  in 
words. 

"  You  are  certainly  a  queer  chap,"  he  said,  at 
length.  "  I  wonder  if  it  is  superior  innocence  or 
unusual  depth  that  is  at  the  bottom  of  it  all  ?  " 

"  What  are  you  talking  about  ?  "  Peter  asked 
the  question  with  an  air  of  unmistakable  inno 
cence. 

"  Where  did  you  get  that  queer  way  of  talking 
about  things  of  this  sort  as  though  they  happened 
yesterday,  or  last  week,  and  as  if  the  people  were 
acquaintances  of  yours  ?  "  . 

"  What's  the  difference  when  things  happened 
if  they  truly  happened?"  questioned  Peter,  with 
puzzled  face.  *'  And  as  for  being  acquainted, 
why  I  am  acquainted  with  Jesus  Christ,  you 
know.  You  can't  think  how  nice  it  is  to  think 
that  he  went  to  Peter's  house  visiting.  It  speaks 
of  it  as  though  it  was  just  a  common  enough 
thing  to  do.  'And  when  Jesus  was  come  into 
Peter's  house,'  it  says,  just  as  though  he  often 
went,  maybe.  I  like  it  ever  so  much.  It  makea 
you  remember  that  he  truly  was  a  man,  you 
know.  A  fellow  thinks  queer  things  sometimes. 


124  Household  Puzzles. 

When  you  come  out  I  sat  here  thinking  that  he, 
maybe,  goes  visiting  sometimes  in  heaven  — they 
have  houses  there,  you  know;  and  perhaps 
will  actually  come  to  my  house  in  heaven  some 
day      Why  not  ?     What's  the  use  of  laughing  at 
a  fellow?     It,  may  be  so,  I  tell  you.     Anyhow  i 
don't  matter  whether  it  is  or  not,  because 
comes  down  into  our  hearts  now,  and  stays  if  we 

want  him."  „ 

.       « I'd  like  to  see  some  heart  where  he  stayed. 
Tom  stopped  laughing  and  spoke  almost  bitterly. 
« It  strikes  me  they  must  be  different  kinds 
hearts  from  any  that  I  know.     How  much  of  that 
do  you  honestly  believe,  my  boy?     If  the  spmt 
of  Jesus  Christ  actually  looks  after  people  now 
days,  why  don't  he  come  and  look  after  me  ?      ^ 

«  Maybe  he  don't Jike  the  company  you  keep. 
Peter  spoke  gravely  enough,  but  his  words  set 
Tom  into  another  laugh. 

"There's  another  of  your  odd^ notions, 
said.     "  Where  do  you  get  them  ?  " 

«  It  isn't  my  notion  at  all.     Mr.  Gordon  said 
80  in  his  sermon  this  morning.     Didn't  you  hear 

him?" 

**  Can't  say  that  I  did." 

"  Well,  you  couldn't  have  been  listening  then, 
for  he  said  it,  and  I  thought  of  you  down  there 
in  that  saloon,  and  what  kind  of  company  you  had 
gone  to  keeping.  He  doesn't  like  that,  you  may 
depend." 


Light  without  Logic.  125 

For  some  reason  that  was  mysterious  to  him 
self,  the  boy's  simple  words  irritated  Tom  Ran 
dolph. 

"  See  here,"  he  said,  sharply,  "  since  you  have 
studied  my  case  so  thoroughly,  perhaps  you  can 
tell  me  why  I  wasn't  better  looked  after,  and  em 
ployment  found  for  me  tha*  was  respectable,  if 
this  is  not  ?  " 

"  Perhaps  you  didn't  ask  Him  to  help  ?  " 

Tom's  good  humor  returned.  He  seemed 
amused  at  the  childishness  of  the  reply. 

"  Oh,  that's  it,"  he  said,  carelessly.  "  It's  a 
queer  kind  of  reason,  isn't  it  ?^  If  He  cares  any 
thing  about  me,  why  doesn't  He  see  that  I  go 
straight,  and  keep  the  right  sort  of  company, 
whether  I  ask  His  help  or  not.  How  is  that?" 

Peter's  answer  was  ready. 

"  I  don't  know,"  he  said,  simply.  "  I've 
thought  about  that  myself,  and  wondered  why 
He  didn't.  There  must  be  a  good  reason  for  it, 
or  He  wouldn't  have  fixed  it  so.  He  just  chooses 
that  we  should  ask  for  His  help  if  we  want  it ; 
and  that's  all  fair  and  square  enough,  as  far  as  I 
see.  If  we  don't  want  a  thing  bad  enough  to  ask 
for  it,  after  it's  been  promised  for  the  asking,  why 
don't  that  go  to  show  that  we  can't  be  awful 
anxious  to  have  it  at  all  ?  As  to  why  He  fixed 
it  that  way  I'm  sure  I  don't  know,  and  it  don't 


il.8  Household  Puzzles. 

make  no  kind  of  difference  whether  I  know  the 
why  of  a  thing  or  not,  if  I  know  the  thing  itself." 
Thomson  Randolph  was  puzzled.  How  was 
he  going  to  answer  this  simple  boy's  simple,  "  I 
don't  know  ?  "  This  wasn't  logic  nor  argument, 
aiid  yet  it  was  unanswerable  sure  enough.  Who 
did  know  ?  God  had  a  right  certainly  to  do  as 
he  ^leased.  Very  likely  he  had  reasons  for  his 
pl?ns.  There  used  to  be  a  great  deal  to  be  said 
on  this  subject  when  the  boys  in  college  dis- 
cupsed  theology;  but  before  Peter  Armstrong's 
ignorance  discussion  fled  away  and  left  the  col- 
laf  •  boy  speechless. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

MISTAKES  —  GREAT  AND  SMALL. 

ARVARD  PLACE  CHURCH  was  large 
and  handsome,  frescoed,  upholstered,  car 
peted,  organed,  in  the  latest  and  most  ap 
proved  style.  The  congregation  was  in 
keeping  with  the  church,  large,  well- 
dressed,  cultivated.  In  fact,  the  Harvard  Place 
Church  was  the  fashion.  Into  this  church,  on 
the  evening  of  which  I  write,  sauntered  Thomp 
son  Randolph,  not  from  any  special  desire  to  be 
in  church,  but  because  it  was  customary  to  go, 
and  he  didn't  know  what  else  to  do  with  himself. 
His  sisters,  Helen  and  Ermina,  occupied  promi 
nent  seats  in  the  choir,  and  were  very  beautiful 
singers.  Tom  watched  them  as  they  fidgeted 
through  the  opening  prayer,  settling  their  over- 
skirts  and  buttoning  each  other's  gloves,  and 
afterward  finding,  with  some  rustle  of  leaves, 
their  places  in  the  note-books. 

137 


128  Household  Puzzles. 

"  I  wonder  what  they  will  do  next  ? "  he 
whispered  to  his  friend  Germaiu  Wilcox,  whose 
seat  he  occupied.  "  How  much  prayer  do  they 
faucy  they  have  heard  ?  " 

"  They  are  getting  reaoTy  to  perform,"  whis 
pered  Germain  behind  his  glove.  "  They  can't 
be  expected  to  be  interested  in  anything  so  com 
monplace  as  a  prayer.  They  are  going  to  have  a 
stunning  anthem,  to-night.  Sis  has  been  squeal 
ing  it  all  the  afternoon." 

Sis  Wilcox  was  one  of  the  leading  sopranos. 
The  anthem  was  very  beautiful,  tender,  and 
sweet.  Whether  some  of  the  effect  of  its  sweet- 
ness  was  destroyed  by  the  previous  fidgets  in 
which  the  choir  had  indulged  can  not  perhaps 
be  ascertained  with  certainty.  Tom  Randolph 
very  rarely  paid  close  attention  to  the  sermon. 
"  Sermons  were  not  his  forte,"  he  was  wont  to 
say ;  but  on  this  particular  evening  something  in 
Mr.  Gordon's  manner  arrested  his  attention. 
"  Ye  will  not  come  unto  me."  This  was  tho 
text,  and  the  sermon  fitted  it — a  siufple,  solemn, 
earnest  setting  forth  of  the  strangeness  of  the 
sinner's  position  before  God.  There  had  been 
much  prayer  spent  on  that  sermon.  I  might 
almost  say  that  Mr.  Gordon  had  written  it  on 
his  knees,  so  anxious  had  he  been  to  say  just  the 
right  thing  in  the  most  straightforward  way. 
A  good  and  earnest  man  was  Mr.  Gordon,  whose 


Mistakes — Great  and  Small.  129 

heart  was  at  times  utterly  weighed  down  with  a 
sense  of  the  responsibilities  of  his  position  and 
his  longing  for  the  salvation  of  souls.  Early  in 
the  evening  Torn  ceased  his  running  comments 
on  everything  that  was  said  and  done,  and  sat 
erect  with  eyes  fixed  on  the  preacher's  face. 
The  style  of  sermon  was  one  particularly  calcu 
lated  to  arrest  the  attention  of  a  sensible  young 
man,  there  was  such  a  calm,  close,  direct  appeal 
to  common  sense. 

"  There  is  no  getting  around  some  of  his 
positions.  The  world  is  made  of  fools  anyhow, 
and  it  looks  as  though  I  might  be  one  of  the 
number."  These  were  some  of  Tom's  mental 
comments.  However,  during  the  closing  prayer 
he  allowed  his  thoughts  to  rove  over  the  church 
and  the  village,  and  succeeded  in  a  measure  in 
shaking  off  the  sense  of  personality.  In  the 
closing  hymn  he  joined  with  unusual  energy, 
partly  because  the  tune  was  a  particular  favorite, 
and  partly  because  he  was  aware  that  the  choir 
preferred  to  do  their  own  singing  without  assist 
ance  from  the  congregation.  This  was  a  view 
of  matters  that  always  exasperated  Tom,  and 
having  a  powerful  voice  he  did  his  best  to 
express  his  opinion. 

"  How  happy  every  child  of  grace, 
Who  knows  his  sins  forgiven; 
This  earth,  he  cries,  is  not  my  place, 
I  seek  my  place  "v  heaven." 

9 


130  Household  Puzzles. 

Such  was  one  of  the  verses,  put  in  striking 
contrast  with  the  main  idea  of  the  hymn,  the 
contrast  between  the  state  of  those  who  have 
"come"  and  accepted  of  the  promised  "life," 
and  those  who  will  not  come.  Very  little  atten 
tion  did  Tom  Randolph  pay  to  the  words;  he 
did  not  discover  their  appropriateness  to  the  ser 
mon;  the  tune  was  the  main  point  with  him. 
Catching  at  the  words  a  line  at  a  time,  and 
while  he  sang  it  letting  his  eyes  rove  through 
the  church,  it  is  no  wonder  that  the  words 
became  confused  in  his  brain,  and  his  voice  rang 
out  loud  and  clear,  "I  seek  no  place  in  heaven." 

Germain  Wilcox  laughed. 

"  That's  true  enough,"  he  whispered.  "  But 
it's  not  quite  the  idea  that  Parson  Gordon  wants 
sung.  Can't  yon  read  ?  " 

Not  another  line  sang  Tom.  It  was  not  em 
barrassment  ;  few,  if  any,  besides  Germain  would 
be  likely  to  notice  the  mistake,  if  they  did  Tom 
was  naturally  too  unconcerned  to  care;  but 
there  came  to  him  a  sudden  overwhelming  sense 
of  the  truth  of  the  sentiment  as  he  had  sung  it. 
44 1  seek  no  place  in  heaven."  It  was  one  thing 
for  a  young  man  morally,  nay,  Christianly 
brought  up,  to  quietly  ignore  the  facts  of  death 
and  hereafter ;  it  was  quite  another  to  boldly 
declare  that  he  sought  no  future  home.  If  the 
line  had  read  as  he  imagined,  "I  seek  no  place 


Mistakes — Great  and  Small.  131 

but  heaven,"  his  tongue  would  have  glided 
smoothly  over  the  poetic  falsehood  without  a 
thought,  but  the  true  sentence  that  he  had 
unwittingly  sung  filled  him  with  a  feeling  almost 
like  dismay.  He  did  not  saunter  home  with 
Germain  as  he  had  at  first  intended,  but  left  him 
immediately  and  turned  his  steps  homeward. 
Peter  Armstrong  was  just  ahead ;  he  halted  as 
he  recognized  Tom. 

"  Going  home  ? "  was  all  he  said ;  and  it 
chimed  in  with  Tom's  thoughts,  "  I  seek  no 
home." 

"•  No,"  he  answered,  with  a  sharp  laugh,  "  I'm 
going  to  destruction." 

Peter  was  silent  and  astonished;  he  was  not 
quick-witted;  he  did  not  quite  take  Tom's 
meaning ;  he  would  not  have  known  what 
answer  to  make  if  he  had,  so  he  made  none ; 
but  presently  said  over  the  two  lines  of  the 
hymn  that  had  stayed  with  him : 

"  This  earth,  he  cries,  is  not  my  place, 
I  seek  my  place  in  heaven." 

The  truth  of  the  rendering  this  time  struck 
Tom  forcible.  Undoubtedly  Peter  was  seeking 
a  place  there ;  no  one  who  came  in  daily  contact 
with  him  could  doubt  it. 

"  I  made  a  new  version  of  those  lines  to  suit 
my  own  case,"  he  said,  with  an  attempt  at  a 


132  Household  Puzzles. 

laugh,  and  then  he  repeated  them  as  he  sang 
them. 

"  Well,"  said  Peter,  gravely,  "  that's  so,  ain't 
it?" 

"  Nothing  could  be  truer  ;  only  a  fellow  don't 
enjoy  singing  it  out  before  a  congregation,  you 
know." 

"  Might  as  well  sing  it  as  live  it,"  Peter  an- 
Kwered,  speaking  very  gravely.  "It's  a  dreadful 
mean  way  to  live.  I  wouldn't  do  it  if  I  was 
you." 

Tom  laughed. 

"  You  come  to  the  root  of  things  almost  as 
promptly  as  Mr.  Gordon  does,"  he  said  careless 
ly.  But  I  am  about  as  well  satisfied  with  the 
way  in  which  I  live  as  I  am  with  the  most  lives 
I  see." 

This  sentence  was  the  embodiment  of  Tom's 
hobby ;  it  had  in  it  the  great  beam  behind 
which  he  hid  while  he  pointed  his  finger  at 
the  motes  in  other  people's  eyes;  but  Peter 
did  not  know  this  —  he  knew  nothing  about 
hobbies  anyway  —  so  he  continued  his  own  train 
of  thought. 

"  It's  queer  how  folks  live,  ain't  it  now  ?  "  he 
said.  "  Knowing  that  some  things  are  true  — 
there's  that  line,  '  This  earth,  he  cried,  is  not  my 
place.'  Now,  everybody  can  say  that.  Who 
ever  heard  of  a  man  finding  a  place  to  stay  here 


Mistakes — Great  and  Small.  1U3 

on  earth?  He  goes  off  somewhere,  that's  plain 
enough  ;  he's  sure  to  die,  and  he  knows  he  will. 
Now  for  them  that  sing  the  next  line  as  you  did, 
and  there's  lots  of  'em,  where  are  they  going  to 
live?  —  no  place  on  earth,  and  they  won't  have 
one  in  heaven.  Now  wouldn't  you  think  it 
would  be  kind  of  natural  for  them  to  wonder 
where  they  would  stay  ?  " 

"  I  wish  Charles  Wesley  had  found  some 
other  place  to  live  in  before  he  wrote  that 
hymn,"  muttered  Tom,  "I  never  was  so 
haunted." 

Then  he  and  Peter  both  went  in  the  front 
way  to  the  parlor  to  wait  for  family  worship. 
Mr.  Randolph  had  gone  to  his  room,  would  be 
ready  in  a  little  while,  Grace  said,  so  the  family 
lounged  in  various  attitudes  awaiting  his  coming. 

"  What  a  very  long  sermon  Mr.  Gordon  had 
to-night!"  Helen  said,  folding  her  crape  vail. 
"  I  got  so  tired.  I  wonder  if  it  wasn't  an  old 
sermon?  Someway  it  sounded  like  one  to  me." 

*'  I'm  sure  /  don't  know.  He  might  preach 
an  old  sermon  every  month  and  I  should  be 
none  the  wiser.  I  can't  remember  Mr.  Gordon's 
sermons ;  they  don't  interest  me."  This  from 
Ermina. 

"  I  think  this  one  was  interesting ;  there  were 
a  good  many  illustrations."  This  was  Grace's 
timid  protest 


134  Household  Puzzles. 

"I'm  tired  of  his  illustrations,"  Helen  said, 
wearily.  "  He  has  about  twenty  for  every 
sermon.  I  don't  see  the  use  in  a  minister  telling 
stories  all  the  while,  as  if  his  congregation  were 
a  parcel  of  children." 

"  Nevertheless  it  is  generally  considered  the 
most  acceptable  style  of  sermonizing,"  Tom  said, 
as  he  stretched  his  handsome  self  on  the  lounge, 
and  laid  his  curly  head  on  Grace's  lap. 

Helen  turned  and  looked  at  him  in  cool  sur 
prise. 

"  Who  ever  imagined  that  you  had  any  idea 
concerning  the  most  acceptable  styles  of  ser 
monizing?  I  didn't  know  it  was.  in  your  line." 

"  It  has  been  in  my  line  to  hear  Beecher  and 
Talrnadge  and  John  Hall,  perhaps  you  know ; 
and  I  heard  several  illustrations  used,  I  can 
assure  you." 

"  Oh,  well,  I've  no  Objection  to  illustrations 
wuere  they  are  needed  to  explain  truth  to 
those  who  can  not  understand  it  without.  I 
only  wish  you  had  profited  by  all  those  you 
have  heard." 

"  I  wish  I  had,  with  all  my  heart,"  Tom  said, 
gloomily.  "  I  think,  myself,  that  patterns  are 
needed  as  well  as  illustrations." 

Maria  here  took  up  the  conversation. 

"  I  wish  Mr.  Gordon  would  leave  his  hand- 
ker chief  at  home ;  how  nervous  that  man  does 


Mistakes — Great  and  Small.  135 

make  me,  winding  it  around  his  hand  and  twist 
ing  it  in  all  sorts  of  shapes.  I'm  always  afraid 
he  will  forget  where  he  is  and  make  an  out-and- 
out  rabbit,  as  I  presume  he  does  at  home  for 
the  children." 

"  His  handkerchief  doesn't  trouble  me  as 
much  as  his  continual  fidgeting,"  Ermina  said. 
"  Squeaking  boots,  too.  If  I  were  Mrs.  Gordon 
I'd  soak  them  in  grease  for  a  month ;  and  he 
shrugs  his  shoulders  worse  than  ever.  Helen, 
did  you  notice  him  to-night?  It's  for  all  the 
world  just  as  his  baby  does,  when  it  wants 
something  it  can't  have." 

"  He  is  so  wretchedly  nervous,  anyway,  that 
it  is  a  trial  to  watch  him.  Sis  Wilcox  says  he 
gives  her  the  fidgets." 

"She  has  them,  any  way, ".Maria  said.  "She 
acts  like  a  simpleton.  If  I  were  going  to  whis 
per  and  laugh  as  much  as  she  does,  I  should 
choose  some  less  conspicuous  place  than  the 
choir." 

"Well,"  Ermina  said,  "she  is  a  simpleton; 
why  shouldn't  she  act  like  one  ?  " 

"  She  is  a  member  of  the  same  church  with 
yourself,"  Tom  said,  pointedly  ;  and  Helen  made 
emphatic  response, — 

"  What  if  she  is?  That  doesn't  insure  perfec 
tion." 

"  So  I  perceive.  I  was  simply  interested  in 
observing  how  you  all  loved  each  other." 


136  Household  Puzzles. 

"  I  wonder  who  pretends  to  love  her  ?  I'm 
sure  /never  did." 

"  But  I  thought  that  was  one  of  the  articles 
of  your  creed  ?  " 

"  That  only  helps  Lo  show  how  limited  your 
knowledge  of  church  matters  is.  Maria,  how 
many  colors  had  Laura  Fox  about  her  this 
evening  V  " 

"  I'm  sure  I  dont  know.  I  haven't  an  eye 
for  colors.  Besides,  my  post  of  observation  is 
not  as  extended  as  yours  and  Ermina's.  I 
listened  to  the  sermon  this  evening." 

"  That's  a  wonder.  It  was  less  worthy  of 
attention  than  usual.  I  don't  like  such  ser 
mons." 

"  I  don't  either,"  Tom  said,  laconically.  "  I 
never  heard  a  sermon  in  my  life  that  I  thought 
was  more  of  a  nuisance." 

"  That's  a  strange  word  to  apply  to  a  sermon, 
Tom.  I  thought  it  was  very  solemn."  It  was 
Grace's  soft  voice  that  now  interposed. 

"  I  think  so,  too,"  Tom  answered,  quickly. 
"  It  is  solemn  sermons  that  Helen  and  I  don't 
like." 

"  I  didn't  say  any  such  thing,"  Helen  said, 
sharply.  "Tim,  what  is  the  use  of  making 
fun  of  everything?  You  don't  know  anything 
about  sermons,  and  therefore  you  ought  not  to 
criticise  them." 


Mistakes  —  Great  and  Small.  137 

Tom  laughed  sarcastically. 

"Perhaps  I  don't  know  anything  about 
church- members,  and  therefore  ought  not  to 
criticise  them." 

"  No,  you  ought  not.  People  do  not  profess 
to  be  perfect  because  they  are  members  of  the 
church." 

"  That's  fortunate ;  because  they  are  so  far 
removed  from  it  that  no  one  would  believe  them 
if  they  did.  I'll  tell  you  what  I  believe,"  and 
he  sat  erect  and  spoke  excitedly.  "  I  believe 
the  whole  thing  is  a  humbug.  Here  you  girls 
have  been  to  church  this  evening,  listening  to 
what,  if  it  is  true,  is  as  solemn  as  death  itself; 
and  you  come  home  and  discuss  the  preacher's 
handkerchief,  and  boots,  and  gestures.  Part 
of  you  profess  to  be  on  the  safe  side  of  the  line, 
and  to  think  that  the  other  part  of  us  are  on 
the  very  brink  of  destruction ;  and  neither  you 
nor  we  appear  to  care.  Now  how  is  a  fellow 
to  believe  there  is  any  truth  in  any  of  it?" 

"  Tom  Randolph ! "  Helen  said,  in  dismay. 
"  I  didnt  know  you  were  an  infidel." 

"A  fiddlestick!  If  I'm  not,  it  is  not  the  fault 
of  the  burning  and  shining  lights  that  I  see 
around  me.  Take  your  own  case,  Helen.  Do 
you  believe  your  own  doctrine?" 

"  Of  course  I  believe  it,  or  I  wouldn't  profess 
to." 


138  Household  Puzzles. 

"  Then  you  believe  that  Maria,  here,  i8  in 
danger  of  everlasting  destruction ;  and  yet,  in 
the  face  of  such  a  sermon  as  Mr.  Gordon 
preached  to-night  you  ask  her  about  the  colors 
that  Laura  Fox  wears.  If  your  doctrine  means 
anything,  you  ought  to  be  begging  and  pleading 
with  her  to  escape  for  her  life." 

"  I'm  uot  a  fanatic,"  Helen  said,  coldy. 

"  No,  you  are  not.  I'll  answer  for  that.  But 
you  are  either  self-deceived,  or  the  whole  thing 
is  a  humbug.  If  there  is  religion  at  all,  it  must 
be  something  different  from  this  milk-and-water 
stuff,  that  consists  in  dressing  up  in  one's  best 
and  doing  the  praising  for  the  rest  of  the  con 
gregation,  and  then  coming  home  and  picking 
to  pieces  what  sounded  like  a  solemn  sermon. 
I  don't  believe  in  any  of  it,  and  I  think  I'm 
justified  in  my  conclusion.  1  tell  you  I  think — " 

The  sitting-room  door  opened  and  Mr.  Ran 
dolph  came  in.  He  went  directly  toward  his 
accustomed  seat,  took  up  the  family  Bible,  and 
there  sounded  in  the  room,  on  the  very  breath 
of  the  sharp  sentences  that  had  filled  the  air, 
these  words  :  "  Wherefore,  laying  aside  all  mal 
ice,  and  all  guile,  and  hypocrisies,  and  envies, 
and  all  evil  speakings,  as  new-born  babes,  desire 
the  sincere  milk  of  the  word,  that  ye  may  grow 
thereby :  if  so  be  that  ye  have  tasted  that  the 
Lord  is  gracious.  To  whom  coming,  as  unto  a 


Mistakes  —  Great  and  Small. 


living  stone,  disallowed  indeed  of  men,  but 
chosen  of  God,  and  precious." 

Then  Mr.  Randolph  prayed  ;  and  he  prayed 
for  his  daughters  and  his  son  in  such  a  manner 
that  Tom  Randolph  was  left  no  chance  for 
believing  that  to  his  father,  at  least,  this  thing 
was  a  humbug.  He  laughed  a  little  as  he  met 
Peter's  earnest  look  half  an  hour  afterward  as 
he  went  to  the  kitchen  for  some  water. 

"  It's  a  great  muddle,  Peter,"  he  said.  "  I 
don't  know  how  to  put  it.  My  father  means  it, 
I  guess,  and  I  think  very  likely  you  do  ;  but  as 
for  the  rest  —  " 

"  I  know  one  other  who  means  it,"  Peter  said, 
interrupting  him. 

"  Who  is  that  ?  " 

"  The  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 


CHAPTER  XII. 

WEIGHTY  MATTERS  IN   SMALL  SCALES. 

WONDER  if  things  are  becoming  serious 
in  that  quarter?"  This  Maria  Randolph 
said,  nodding  her  head  toward  the  closed 
parlor  door. 

44  Nonsense  I  "  Ermina  said. 
44  Well,  this  is  the  second  evening  this  week, 
and  I  think  that  looks  like  more  than  common 
courtesy.  I'm  naturally  anxious,  for  if  there  is 
one  thing  more  to  be  dreaded  than  another  in 
this  family  it's  a  wedding ;  financially  speaking, 
that  would  jast  about  ruin  us." 

Meantime  the  closed  pauor  doors  screened 
from  view  Helen  Randolph  and  the  object  of 
Maria's  solicitude,  Mr.  Horace  Munroe.  They 
were  standing  by  the  table  near  the  door,  she 
nervously  fingering  the  contents  of  the  card- 
basket,  he  looking  at  her  earnestly,  searchingly 
140 


Weighty  Matters  in  Small  Scales.       141 

as  though  he  would  give  much  to  know  exactly 
what  she  was  thinking. 

"  Then  you  need  time  to  consider  this  mat 
ter?"  he  said  at  last;  and  Helen  lifted  her 
drooping  eyes  to  his  and  spoke  quickly  : 

"  I  must  take  time,  Horace ;  it  is  so  sudden, 
so  very  unexpected." 

"That  seems  strange  to  me,"  he  said,  smiling 
a  little,  "  when  I  have  thought  of  it  so  much 
and  so  long.  Don't  you  know  your  own  mind, 
Helen  ?  " 

But  Helen  turned  quickly  away  from  his 
searching  look. 

"  Indeed  I  can  not  answer  your  questions  to 
night,  Horace;  my  mind  is  in  a  whirl  of  bewil 
derment.  You  must  give  me  time.  To-morrow 
evening  I  will  talk  with  you." 

Then  she  went  directly  to  her  own  room 
without  joining  the  family  party  in  the  sitting- 
room. 

"  It  was  rather  a  short  call,"  Maria  said. 
"  I  guess  I  needn't  groan  over  the  wedding-cake 
yet." 

But  there  was  wedding-cake  in  prospect;  at 
least  Horace  Munros  meant  to  have  some  if  he 
could  bring  it  about.  This  was  the  important 
question  for  Helen  to  settle,  and  she  worked 
hard  at  the  problem  most  of  the  night,  and 
awoke  in  the  morning  heavy-eyed,  the  question 


142  Household  Puzzles. 

still  unsettled.  There  were  important  difficul 
ties  in  the  way.  In  the  first  place,  did  bhe  love 
Mr.  Munroe  well  enough  to  marry  him  ?  She 
liked  him  very  well  indeed,  enjoyed  his  society 
'but  Helen  Randolph,  in  common  with  every 
well-trained,  pure-hearted  young  lady,  had  ei- 
alted  ideas  of  the  love  that  justify  marriage. 
To  enjoy  spending  an  occasional  evening  with 
a  gentleman,  and  to  have  that  feeling  for  him 
that  would  make  his  failures  and  shortcomings 
endurable  for  a  lifetime,  were  two  different 
things.  Helen  Randolph  hud  grave  doubts; 
they  were  very  unlike  in  their  views  and  feel 
ings;  some  of  his  ideas  thoroughly  exasperated 
her ;  she  had  come  from  his  society  feeling  that 
she  never  wanted  to  see  him  again.  How  would 
it  be,  bhe  wondered,  if  it  came  to  spending 
weeks  and  months  and  years  in  his  society.  She 
shrank  from  it.  "  Leaving  all  others,  cleave 
only  to  him."  So  ran  the  marriage  service. 
Helen  knew  it  and  thought  about  it.  "  Of 
course  I  should  do  that  if  I  were  his  wife,"  she 
said  ;  yet  even  as  she  said  it  she  was  conscious 
of  feeling  that  it  would  be  a  trial  to  spend  no 
more  pleasant  evenings  with  Mr.  Harper.  If 
Mr.  Harper  should  come  to  her  with  such  a  ques 
tion —  and  her  face  flushed  as  she  realized  that 
ihere  were  points  about  that  coming  that  she 
vhould  not  hesitate  over.  But  then  he  never 


Weighty  Matters  in  Small  Scales.       143 

would  come ;  he  was  nothing  to  her ;  had  never 
been.  Why  in  the  world  should  his  image  come 
before  her  now  ?  "  Helen  ILirper,"  she  said, 
dreamily.  "  It  is  a  very  pretty  sounding  name, 
but  it  will  never  be  my  name,  and  the  question 
to  be  settled  is,  whether  I  shall  be  Helen  Munroe. 
Oh,  me !  I  wish  things  didn't  have  to  be  settled, 
or  could  be  unsettled  again  in  a  lifetime  if  one 
happened  to  make  a  mistake.  What  a  horrid 
thing  a  divorce  would  be.  I  should  never  do 
that,  anyway."  Does  any  lady  reading  this 
have  the  least  doubt  as  to  Helen  Randolph's 
duty  in  the  matter?  There  were  other  points. 
As  her  eye  rested  on  her  dust-covered  Bible, 
certain  old-fashioned  directions  found  therein 
came  to  mind.  "  Be  ye  not  unequally  yoked 
together  with  unbelievers."  She  remembered 
it.  Now  Horace  Munroe  actually  made  light 
of  all  religious  beliefs.  Not  in  a  coarse,  offensive 
way,  but  with  a  good-natured  sarcasm,  putting 
things  so  aptly  that  she  had  more  than  half 
laughed  at  things  that  should  make  a  Christian 
blush.  "But  he  isn't  an  infidel,"  she  argued. 
"  Not  so  much  of  a  one  as  our  Tom  is,  I  verily 
believe.  He  goes  to  church  quite  regularly 
evenings  ;  and  he  would  go  mornings  with  me 
of  course.  Yet,  after  all,  what  a  strange  way 
it  would  be  to  live  —  for  a  Randolph;  no  family 
worship,  no  blessing  asked  at  table.  Dear  me  I 


144  Household  Puzzles. 

I   don't   believe   I   could  live   so.     Perhaps   he 
might  be  different  if  I  were  his  wife.     I  might 
lead  him.     He  isn't  easy  to  lead,  though,  and  it 
isn't  my   nature   to  do  things  of  that  sort.     I 
never  was  designed  for  a  missionary.     I  suppose 
I  need  help  myself  rather  than  to  be  planning  to 
help  other  people.     It  would  be  nice  to  have  a 
strong,   good    man    to   look    up  to  constantly." 
And  again  visions  of   Mr.   Harper,   a   "strong, 
good  man,"  stole  over  her  thoughts.     "Horace 
'  is  strong  enough  about  some  things,"  she  mused, 
"and  he  is  good  hearted.     Very  likely  I  might 
coax  him  into  almost  anything,  only  he  would 
change  his  mind  as  soon  as  he  was  out  of  my 
sight.     He  is  very  fond  of  me."     And  a  very 
tender  feeling  came  into  her  heart  as  she  thought 
of  the  tremulous  earnestness  of  his  usually  gay, 
careless  voice  as  he  urged  his  claim.     »'  I  hope  1 
think  enough  of  him  so  that  he  wont  be  disap 
pointed  in  me  — that  is,  if  1  decide  not  to  disap 
point  him.     Dear  me  !   I'm  tired  of  thinking  it 
all  over  and  over.     I  wish  I  could  go  to  sleep. 
I  wonder  what  the  girls  will  say?    It  will  be 
nice  to  live  in  a  handsome  house  and  have  what 
one    wants   without   counting    the    pennies   ten 
times  over  before  making  any  purchases.     Hor 
ace  is  as  generous  with  his  money  as  any  man 
can  be ;  that  feature  of  it  is  absolutely  bewitch- 

ing." 


Weighty  Matters  in  Small  Scales.       145 

In  this  delightful  fashion  Helen  Randolph 
spent  the  night,  tossing  and  tumbling,  dragging 
the  clothes  from  Ennina's  side  of  the  bed,  and 
being  impatiently  requested  to  "for  pity's  sake 
lie  still,"  turning  her  pillow  and  thumping  it 
into  one  corner  of  the  case  to  get  a  cool,  high 
spot  for  her  throbbing  head.  It  wasn't  often 
that  Helen  Randolph's  cool,  calculating  head 
was  caught  in  such  a  whirl.  It  was  in  the 
morning  when  she  was  dressed  and  nearly  ready 
to  go  down  stairs  that  she  suddenly  sought 
counsel,  or  at  least  sympathy.  She  drummed 
on  the  window-pane  and  watched  Tom  hurrying 
down  town,  as  she  said,  abruptly, — 

"Ermina,  Horace  Munroe  has  asked  me  to  be 
Mrs.  Horace  Munroe." 

"  My  patience  !  "  Ermina  said,  pausing  in  the 
hurried  arrangement  of  her  hair.  "Maria  was 
right  then,  after  all." 

"  Maria !  What  on  earth  does  she  know  about 
it?" 

"  Why,  she  was  fretting  over  the  expense  of 
wedding-cake,  in  view  of  his  numerous  calls. 
Well,  Helen,  are  you  going  to  marry  him  ?  " 

Helen  laughed  a  little. 

"  How  you  do  pitch  into  things,"  she  said, 
as  she  turned  one  blushing  cheek  a  little  to 
ward  her  sister.  "  What  is  the  use  of  being  so 
blunt  ?  " 

10 


116  Household  Puzzles. 

"Blunt?"  said  Ermina,  going  on  with  her 
blushing.  "I  don't  see  anything  very  blunt 
about  that.  I  suppose  you  know  whether  you 
want  to  marry  him  or  not,  and  I  just  asked  for 
your  decision." 

This  was  precisely  what  Helen  did  not  know, 
but  she  did  not  choose  to  say  so  to  her  sister. 

"  I  haven't  given  it  yet,"  she  said,  quietly. 
"  I  took  time  for  consideration ;  and  then,  of 
course,  I  shouldn't  give  a  positive  answer  with 
out  consulting  father." 

"  Father  won't  like  it,"  Ermina  said,  posi 
tively. 

"  Why  not,  pray  ? "  and  the  ready  flush  of 
indignation  mounted  on  Helen's  cheek. 

"Because  he  thinks  Mr.  Munroe  is  dissi 
pated." 

"Oh,  nonsense!  father  musn't  expect  young 
men  in  these  days  to  be  made  after  the  pattern 
of  a  generation  back.  Horace  is  as  good  as  the 
most  of  them." 

Erraina  finished  her  toilet  in  silence  and  went 
down  stairs,  and  Helen  lingered,  unwilling  to 
meet  the  family  in  her  undecided  state  of 
mind.  Grace  came  in  search  of  stray  goblets, 
and  Helen,  in  sheer  desperation,  stated  the  case 
'  to  her,  just  to  hear  what  she  would  say.  She 
Eaid  nothing  for  some  minutes;  she  was  doubly 
astonished:  first,  Horace  Aluuroe  was  not  in  the 


Weighty  Matters  in  tfmall  Scales.       147 

least  the  sort  of  man  she  had  thought  Helen 
would  fancy ;  and,  second  I}7,  it  was  such  a  new 
experience  to  have  the  confidence  of  her  oldest 
sister  that  she  did  not  quite  know  what  to  do 
with  it. 

"  Do  you  like  him  enough  to  marry  him  ? " 
she  asked  at  last,  speaking  gently,  almost  timidly. 

Helen  laughed  a  little.  . 

"  How  much  is  it  necessary  to  like  people 
In  order  to  marry  them,  according  to  your  code 
of  propriety  ?  "  she  asked,  with  a  sort  of  playful 
sarcasm . 

"  To  single  him  out  from  all  others  as  the 
only  man  in  the  world  that  it  seems  to  you 
possible  to  marry,  and  to  marry  him  seems  just 
the  best  lot  that  God  could  have  given  you." 

"  Grace  spoke  solemnly,  and  the  smile  faded 
from  Helen's  face  ;  a  flush  came  m  its  place,  and 
she  spoke  coldly. 

"  I  am  not  sentimental  like  yourself,  Grace. 
I  never  was  ;  and  you  must  remember  I  am  not 
eighteen." 

"'  I  don't  think  it  is  sentiment,"  Grace  said. 
"It  is  just  plain,  common  sense.  How  can 
people  spend  happy  lives  together  unless  they 
would  rather  be  with  each  other  than  with  any 
one  else  in  the  world  ?  " 

"  How  many  marriages  do  you  suppose  there 
are  in  this  world  constructed  on  that  plan  ?  " 


148  Household  Puzzles. 

"  I  don't  know.  A  good  many,  I  think ;  or 
there  would  be  more  misery  than  there  is. 
Anyway,  that  would  make  little  difference  with 
me.  /  should  never  marry  unless  I  had  such 
a  feeling." 

"Well,"  Helen  said,  lightly,  "you  may  dem 
onstrate  all  your  theories  when  you  are  married ; 
but,  in  the  meantime,  J  am  not  disposed  to  wait 
until  I  make  the  acquaintance  of  every  man 
living  to  see  whether  i  find  anybody  that  I  like 
better  than  Horace ;  because,  after  I  found  him, 
he  might  not  like  me,  you  know,  and  that  is  an 
item  not  to  be  overlooked." 

Nevertheless,  her  heart  was  heavy,  and  she 
went  restlessly  from  room  to  room,  and  from  one 
occupation  to  another,  all  that  day.  It  was 
such  an  apparent  trifle  that  decided  the  question 
at  last.  At  the  tea-table  Tom,  knowing  nothing 
about  the  state  of  affairs,  blundered  on  Horace 
Munroe  as  a  subject  for  conversation. 

"He  is  just  about  half  drunk,  father.  If  he 
were  a  poor  man  he  would  be  called  so;  but, 
happening  to  have  some  money,  people  content 
themselves  with  sa}*ing  he  is  a  little  wild." 

"  Did  you  sell  him  his  liquor  ?  "  Mr.  Randolph 
asked,  pointedly. 

"Why,  yes;  as  to  that,  I  suppose  I  did.  But 
I  can't  see  that  it  has  much  to  do  with  the 
question.  He  doesn't  drink  whisky  for  the 


Weighty  Mutters  in  Small  Scales.       149 

purpose  of  accommodating  me  with  custom,  by 
a  great  deal." 

" '  Woe  unto  that  man  by  whom  they  come,'  " 
Mr.  Randolph  quoted  solemnly.  "I  would 
rather  that  it  were  not  my  son." 

Helen  played  with  her  knife  and  napkin 
restlessly. 

"  Tom  likes  to  make  a  great  deal  out  of  a 
little,"  she  said  at  last.  "  I  don't  believe 
Horace  Munroe  was  ever  intoxicated  in  his  life." 

Tom  laughed  sarcastically. 

"  My  dear  sister,"  he  said,  solemnly,  "  what 
ever  else  you  may  know,  and  I  am  willing  to 
admit  that  you  are  very  wise  indeed,  you  do  not 
know  the  habits  of  3'oung  men  as  well  as  young 
men,  and  I  happen  to  know  whereof  I  speak." 

Helen  left  the  table  abruptly.  But  it  was  not 
until  the  rest  of  the  family  had  scattered,  leaving 
Tom  with  Maria,  between  whom  and  himself 
peace  had  been  declared,  that  she  enlightened 
him  as  to  the  state  of  affairs. 

"  The  least  you  say  about  Horace  Munroe  the 
better,  perhaps,  until  you  discover  whether  or 
not  he  is  to  be  }"our  brother-in-law." 

"  The  fates  defend  me  from  any  such  disaster. 
Why  !  is  there  any  danger?" 

"He  has  asked  Helen  to  take  the  oversight  of 
him :  though  she  has  not  promised.  She  wanted 
tim«  to  consider.  Ermina  said :  '  If  ever  a  man 


150  Household  Puzzles. 

asks  me  to  marry  him,  I  want  to  be  so  certain 
that  he  is  just  the  individual,  that  I  can  safely 
jump  at  conclusions.' ' 

"  I  am  sorry,"  Tom  said  gravely.  "  I  wish  I 
had  known  it.  I  wouldn't  have  said  what  I  did 
for  the  world,  if  I  had." 

"  Why  not  ?  I  should  think  she  ought  to 
know  about  such  things,  especially  since  she  is 
undecided." 

Tom  shook  his  head. 

"  Not  with  her  temperament.  If  she  were  un 
decided  before,  she  is  settled  now,  you  may  be 
sure.  It  doesn't  need  a  dozen  words  of  opposi 
tion  from  me  to  convince  her  that  there  is  a  con 
spiracy  to  ruin  Horace  Munroe,  and  she'll  stick 
to  him  now  through  anything.  I  wish  I  had 
held  my  tongue  ;  because,  I  tell  you,  Maria,  that 
fellow  is  going  to  ruin." 

What  further  assistance  Helen  needed,  in  order 
to  come  to  a  decision,  Maria  unwittingly  gave. 

"  Mrs.  Curtiss  has  sent  her  bill,"  she  said,  com 
ing  into  the  sitting-room  where  the  girls  were. 
"And  it  is  enormous.  How  three  dresses  could 
be  made  to  cover  so  much  evil  in  the  way  of 
charges  I  can't  imagine.  I  do  believe  I'll  run 
away  and  be  a  nun.  I  am  actually  growing  a 
coward  over  bills.  How  they  are  ever  to  be  paid 
passes  my  comprehension." 

"And  there's  another  awful  season  coming," 


Weighty  Matters  in  Small  Scales.       151 

Ermina  said,  with  a  groan.  "If  the  seasons 
hadn't  that  foolish  habit  of  changing  every  three 
months,  we  might  wear  our  muslins  or  merinos, 
as  the  case  might  be,  until  they  wore  out.  We 
need  pretty  nearly  everything  in  the  way  of  hats 
and  ribbons  and  gloves  that  girls  very  well  can. 
I  don't  know  how  it's  all  to  end." 

Mr.  Horace  Muuroe  was  a  merchant.  He  kept 
gloves  and  ribbons  and  merinos  and  muslins  in 
endless  variety.  Moreover,  his  taste  was  very 
highly  cultivated.  He  disliked  anything  like 
shabbiness.  Helen  stood  looking  out  upon  the 
moonlighted  earth,  apparently  looking  at  the 
April  mud,  but  in  reality  thinking  of  the  rows 
and  rows  of  well-stocked  shelves  in  the  three- 
story  building  on  Albany  street ;  thinking,  also, 
what  a  trial  it  was  to  wear  ties  when  "  they  " 
wore  narrow  ribbon,  just  because  you  could  not 
afford  to  change.  They  had  ribbons  at  Munroe's, 
in  the  lovely  new  shades.  She  had  been  in  the 
store  but  a  few  days  before  with  Mrs.  Munroe, 
Horace's  mother.  That  lady  had  selected  some 
elegant  laces  for  her  now  black  silk.  Both  silk 
and  laces  were  entirely  beyond  anything  that 
Helen  Randolph  ever  expected  to  have;  but 
they  were  not  beyond  Mrs.  Munroe. 

"Helen,"  Grace  said,  breaking  in  on  the 
moon-lighted  reverie,  "Mr.  Munroe  is  in  the 
parlor." 


152  Household  Puzzle*. 

And  Heleu  went  to  him  immediately.  He 
held  her  hand  for  a  moment  as  she  gave  it  for 
good  evening,  and  said,  with  genuine  tremulous- 
ness  of  voice, — 

"  Helen,  is  it  to  be  yes,  or  no  ?  " 

In  one  hand  he  held  his  Alexandre  kids,  of  a 
pale  stone  color ;  the  faint  odor  of  a  rare  and 
costly  perfume  floated  around  him.  Helen's 
gloves  were  out  at  the  fingers.  She  hated  glove 
mending ;  besides,  they  always  looked  shabby 
after  it.  Real,  genuine  perfumery  she  could  not 
afford.  She  looked  up  into  the  earnest  eyes 
bent  on  her,  and  her  voice  was  low  and  clear  as 
she  said, — 

"Yes." 

Up  stairs,  in  Helen  Randolph's  room,  the  dust 
still  lay  on  her  Bible,  and  she  had  been  too  rest 
less  and  unsettled  for  her  customary  prayer  that 
day.  So  the  question  of  a  lifetime  was  settled 
without  so  much  as  a  glance  toward  her  cove 
nanted  guide,  whose  counsel  she  had  promised  to 
seek  at  all  times.  Gloves  and  ribbons  and  laces, 
truly  you  have  weighty  responsibilities,  and  al 
most  omnipotent  sway. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

PRACTICAL  ARITHMETIC. 

AD  you  made  one  of  the  Randolph  house 
hold  about  the  time  of  which  I  write  you 
would  have  pitied  Maria.  There  was  a 
wedding  in  prospect.  Now  a  wedding  in 
a  family  where  the  bride  with  no  income 
at  all  wants  her  wedding  dress,  and  her  wedding 
cake,  and  her  wedding  presents  to  outshine  those 
of  Mrs.  St.  Ilusted,  when  Mrs.  St.  Husted's 
father's  income  is  at  least  fifty  thousand,  becomes 
at  once  a  formidable  thing.  Maria,  as  we  meas 
ure  time,  is  older  by  a  year  than  when  we  saw 
her  last.  It  is  four  weeks  or  so  since  she  cele 
brated  her  sixteenth  birthday  in  doing  up  the 
bride's  sixteen-tucked,  double-puffed  white  skirt. 
Measured  by  the  weight  of  responsibility  and 
care  that  it  has  thrown  on  her  young  shoulders 
that  fear  might  count  ten  to  Maria.  Helen,  by 

153 


154  Household  Puzzles. 

virtue  of  her  new  plans  and  prospects,  has 
thrown  off  all  home  anxieties,  and  Maria  is  now 
the  acknowledged  as  well  as  the  nominal  head 
of  the  household.  "  Making  brick  without  straw 
is  not  my  forte,"  Ermina  had  said,  briefly,  with 
a  most  expressive  shrug  of  her  handsome  shoul 
ders  when  it  was  faintly  suggested  that  she  was 
the  next  oldest  daughter,  and  nothing  further 
was  said  about  her  assuming  the  family  reins. 

A  very  busy  household  had  they  been.  "  Mak 
ing  brick  without  straw  "  had  become  the  con 
stant  occupation  .of  each  one  of  them,  as  the 
days  intervening  between  the  wedding  grew  less 
in  number.  Busy  with  hands,  and  brain,  and 
tongue. 

"  Every  spot  in  this  house  is  historic  ground," 
Ermina  declared  one  morning,  after  a  closely 
contested  argument  had  been  held.  "  Helen 
and  Maria  have  a  battle  in  every  room  and  on 
every  chair." 

"I  know  it,"  said  Helen,  somewhat  plain 
ly.  "  I  am  not.  like  most  brides.  What  little  I 
have  must  be  obtained  grudgingly." 

Then  Maria. 

"Now,  Helen,  that  is  nonsense.  You  know 
we  don't  grudge  you  anything.  I  only  can't  see 
the  propriety  of  a  person  in  your  circumstances 
having  three  new  silk  dresses." 

"  What  is  the  use  of  constantly  twitting  me 


Practical  Arithmetic.  155 

about  my  circumstances?  I'm  glad  your  oppor 
tunity  for  saying  that  is  lessening." 

At  this  point  Ermiua  considered  it  well  to  in 
terpose  a  sentence. 

"It  is  very  inconsiderate  of  you,  Maria,  when 
you  know  that  in  less  than  two  weeks  she  will 
cease  to  be  in  circumstances  —  that  is  a  term 
which  can  never  be  applied  to  her  again." 

"  At  least  I  shall  be  in  circumstances  to  have 
a  silk  dress  when  I  need  one,  without  having  the 
matter  discussed  and  exclaimed  over  until  I  am 
sick  of  the  very  name  of  it."  This  Helen  said 
coldly. 

This  is  only  a  specimen  conversation.  Maria 
resisted  bravely,  hoping  to  save  her  father  at 
some  point  from  the  weary  rneshes  of  debt  in 
which  he  was  struggling.  But  her  fighting  was 
in  vain,  for  Helen  had  a  powerful  argument  on 
her  side,  none  other  than  the  pale  little  mother 
who  had  been  sleeping  her  quiet  sleep  for  quite 
a  year. 

"Helen,"  Maria  would  say,  "what  is  the 
need  of  dressing  twice  for  a  morning  wedding  ? 
It  just  makes  such  a  confusion,  at  the  last  minute 
changing  your  dress;  and  you  have  such  a  beau 
tiful  traveling  dress,  too.  Why  don't  you 'just 
be  married  in  that,  as  you  are  going  to  start  im 
mediately,  and  then  you  won't  need  anothel 
light  silk?" 


156  Household  Puzzles. 

"  Because  I  am  not  going  to  do  it  "  This  was 
Helen's  favorite  argument.  "Nobody  is  mairied 
in  a  traveling  dress ;  that  just  shows  your  ignor 
ance  of  the  ordinary  proprieties  of  such  an 
occasion,  or  else  your  indifference  to  my  comfort, 
I'm  sure  I  don't  know  which." 

Ermina  helped  a  little. 

"  So  far  as  comfort  is  concerned,  I  should  •vote 
for  the  traveling  dress  in  preference  to  one  of 
those  horrid  light  silks  that  will  spot  if  you  look 
at  it.  Nobody  will  be  able  to  shed  a  tear  for 
fear  it  will  drop  on  your  dress." 

"  No  danger  of  any  one  shedding  one.  You 
will  all  be  too  glad  to  get  rid  of  me,  I  verily 
believe  ;  but  as  for  making  a  dowdy  of  myself  on 
my  wedding  day,  to  please  any  of  you,  I  just 
shan't  do  it." 

**  Susy  Perkins  was  married  in  her  traveling 
dress,"  Grace  said,  in  quiet,  retrospective  voice ; 
and  Helen  answered  her  in  triumph, — 

".Of  course  she  was.  It  is  girls  like  Susy 
Perkins  who  do  those  outlandish  things.  I  pre 
sume  they  had  molasses  ginger-bread  for  refresh 
ments,  and  Maria  would  like  to  have  me  copy 
that  style,  too,  no  doubt." 

"'It  would  be  more  wholesome,  as  well  as 
cheap3i,"  Maria  answered,  promptly,  and  while 
she  dul  so  Grace  finished  her  sentence, — 

*'  And  so  did  Augusta  Hoi  ton." 


Practical  Arithmetic.  157 

Ermiiia  clapped  her  hands. 

"Now,  Helen,  Helen!  Do  you  hear  that? 
It  is  only  girls  of  Susy  Perkins'  sort  who  do 
those  outlandish  things,  you  know  I  and  here  is 
Augusta  Horton,  whose  father  is  worth  at  least 
a  million,  actually  having  the  boorishness  to  get 
married  in  her  traveling  dress." 

u  That's  of  no  consequence,"  would  Helen 
reply,  coldly.  "  If  Augusta  Horton,  on  the 
strength  of  her  father's  wealth,  presumes  to  do 
strange  and  unfashionable  things,  I  don't  court 
her  notoriety." 

Then  Maria. 

"  I  wish  we  had  some  of  her  father's  wealth  to 
pay  the  bills.  Our  father's  life  will  be  utterly 
worried  out  of  him.  I'm  sure  I'm  ashamed  to 
meet  him  now." 

And  at  this  point,  with  the  sound  of  her 
father's  footsteps  in  the  hall,  Helen's  eyes  would 
brim  with  tears,  and  as  her  father  opened  the 
door  her  tremulous  lips  would  be  framing  sen 
tences  like  the  following: 

"  There  is  no  one  for  me  to  appeal  to,  who 
will  understand  and  enter  into  my  feelings.  If 
mother  were  here  she  would  know  all  about  it, 
and  explain  things  to  you  that  I  can  not.  Now 
is  the  time  that  my  loss  falls  the  heaviest." 

Then  Maria,  a  torrent  of  pent-up  indignation 
swelling  within  her,  would  leave  the  room, 


158  Household  Puzzle*. 

slamming  the  door  behind  her;  and  Grace,  in 
great  grief  and  dismay,  would  follow  her,  leav 
ing  Ermina  to  come  in  a  more  leisurely  fashion, 
as  became  her  nature  ;  and  then  Helen  would  be 
mistress  of  the  situation.  Such  scenes  ended 
generally  in  Mr.  Randolph's  detaining  the  three 
sisters,  after  Helen  had  left  the  table,  to  say,  in 
tender,  trembling  tones, — 

"Don't  cross  Helen  any  more  than  you  can 
help  during  these  days,  girls.  None  of  you  can 
understand  how  much  she  misses  her  mother 
now,  until  you  are  brought  to  the  same  position 
in  life  with  herself.  Her  mother  would  have 
managed  everything.  As  for  the  extra  bills,  we 
will  get  along  with  them  in  some  way.  We  can 
scrimp  a  little,  after  it  is  all  over." 

"  Scrimp !  "  Ermina  would  exclaim,  but  never 
until  her  father  was  out  of  hearing.  "Does  the 
dear  man  imagine  that  we  have  done  anything 
else  for  the  last  sixty-five  years  of  our  lives? 
Not  but  that  it  comes  natural  to  do  it;  and  I 
wouldn't  make  any  more  uproar  over  silk  dresses 
and  things  if  I  were  you,  Maria.  What  is  the 
use?  The  snarl  will  all  come  out  light  some 
how,  and  we  shan't  care  a  hundred  years  hence 
whether  it  did  or  not." 

Now  this  talk  was  none  the  less  sincere  per 
haps,  because  these  daughters  knew  in  their 
inmost  hearts  that  the  little  mother  whom  they 


Practical  Arithmetic.  159 

mourned  would  have  done  no  planning  for  them 
if  she  had  been  there.  Had  they  not  planned  for 
her  from  their  very  childhood,  and  shielded  her 
in  a  peculiar  manner  from  the  confusion  and  be* 
wilderments  of  life  ?  And  yet  in  a  sense  they 
knew  that  their  father's  words  were  true,  and 
Helen's  tears  were  real.  The  gentle,  sweet- 
spoken  mother,  who  never  by  any  chance  grew 
angry  and  slammed  doors,  or  talked  in  a  loud 
voice,  had  unusual  influence  over  the  harassed 
household.  She  did  not  know  how  to  pay  bills, 
but  she  knew  how  to  sweeten  the  labors  and 
soothe  the  weariness  of  those  who  worked  to  that 
end ;  and  it  was  true  enough  that  she  would 
have  sympathized  in  all  Helen's  plans  and  pro 
jects  as  not  one  of  them  could.  So  while  the 
sisters  were  vexed  they  were  also  softened,  and 
Erinina  worked  industriously  on  the  light  silk. 
There  were  little  personal  matters  of  dress  to  be 
worried  over.  Of  course  it  would  not  do  for  the 
bride  to  appear  in  light  silk  and  the  sisters  in 
mourning  robes,  and  this  necessitated  what  Er- 
mina  called  "  bran  "  new  dresses  for  each  one  of 
them. 

"  It  is  resonable  to  suppose,"  said  that  young 
lady,  "  that  if  we  were  not  in  mourning,  between 
us  all  there  would  be  some  kind  of  garment  that 
might  be  worn  on  this  occasion ;  but  as  it  is,  we 
shall  all  have  to  blossom  out  from  the  dress 
maker's  hands." 


160  Household  Puzzles. 

Atide  from  the  bills  that  this  would  make, 
there  was  a  view  of  it  that  jarred  ou  Maria's 
heart.  She  had  fought  bravely  against  the  put 
ting  on  of  mourning ;  she  was  equally  averse  to 
taking  it  off. 

"  I  was  willing,"  she  said,  "  to  have  it  under 
stood  that  I  didn't  consider  black  clothes  a  nec 
essary  token  of  grief;  but  having  yielded  to  the 
general  notion  on  that  subject,  it  is  dreadful  to 
me  to  say  in  effect,  '  There !  it  is  a  year  since 
we  buried  our  mother.  Yesterday  we  wore 
crape  for  her,  but  to-day  we  have  packed  it 
away  and  are  in  blue  and  scarlet,  or  anything 
else  that  we  happen  to  wear.  The  time  of 
mourning  is  over,  and  we  miss  her  no  more.'  I 
hate  it,"  she  finished,  fiercely. 

44  How  foolishly  you  talk,"  Helen  said.  44  Of 
course  we  miss  her;  no  one  xealizes  that  better 
than  I  do.  Because  we  find  it  necessary  to 
change  the  color  of  our  dress,  is  no  sign  that  we 
have  forgotten  our  mother." 

"  Then  I  hope  you  see  the  sense  of  our  wear 
ing  black  dresses  in  the  first  place  to  prove  to 
people  that  we  missed  her."  And  this  talk 
ended  like  the  others,  in  sewing  industriously  ou 
silver  gray  dresses  for  the  sisters.  Thus  with 
their  endless  differences  of  opinion  in  regard  to 
every  subject  under  the  sun,  time  had  finally 
brought  them  up  to  the  marriage  morning,  to 


Practical  Arithmetic.  1C) 

that  exasperating  moment  when  the  coffee  must 
be  left  to  itself,  to  boil  over  if  it  will,  .or  to 
get  cold  if  it  will,  while  every  one  troops  to  the 
parlor  to  hear  over  again  those  words  which 
have  been  repeated  in  some  form  ever  since 
creation,  and  yet  which  never  wear  out,  nor 
sound  stale  and  uninteresting,  but  which  people 
listen  to  with  eager  face  and  beating  hearts  from 
the  first  formula,  "  Do  you  promise,"  down  to 
the  important,  "I  pronounce  you."  Great  had 
been  the  trials  in  the  Randolph  kitchen  since  an 
hour  before  daybreak.  Among  the  earnest  dis 
cussions  had  been  those  involving  guests  and  no 
guests.  Ermina  took  up  the  debate  with  en 
ergy.  It  was  certainly  proper  enough,  and,  for 
the  matter  of  that,  aristocratic  enough,  to  have  a 
strictly  private  wedding ;  the  only  difficulty 
being  that  Helen  did  not  want  it.  "She  did  not 
believe,"  she  said,  "  in  acting  as  though  one 
was  ashamed  of  being  married.  She  did  not 
care  for  a  large  wedding,  in  fact  no  one  gave 
large  morning  parties  ;  but  a  few,  their  most  in 
timate  friends,  and  Mr.  Monroe's  partners,  ic 
was  no  more  than  ordinary  courtesy  to  invite 
those." 

Now  if  you  have  never  tried  it,  just  please  sit 

down  and  make  out  a  list  of  the  people  that  you 

and  Mr.   Linkenfelter  would  have  to  invite  to 

your   morning   wedding,   provided  you   invited 

11 


162  Household  Puzzles. 

any  one.  There  are,  first,  your  most  intimate 
and  particular  friends,  yours  and  his  ;  you  will 
be  astonished  at  the  number  who  have  to  be  put 
in  under  that  heading.  Then  come  Mr.  Linken- 
felter's  business  friends;  they  are  not  particular 
ly  intimate,  but  they  have  accommodated  him  in 
a  business  way  several  times;  he  may  want 
them  to  do  so  again  ;  they  must  be  invited. 
Then  there  are  the  Snyders;  you  don't  care  a 
straw  for  them,  but  then  they  invited  you  to 
their  Kate's  wedding  when  they  had  very  few 
other  guests ;  it  will  not  do  to  pass  them  by. 
There  are  six  of  them,  counting  the  married 
brother  and  the  two  married  sisters.  They 
make  quite  an  addition  to  your  list,  but  there  is 
no  help  for  it;  down  they  go.  Of  course  you 
must  ask  the  Rowlands,  for  they  are  living  only 
next  door^  and  have  accommodated  you  in  a 
neighborly  fashion  several  times;  and  across  the 
way  are  the  Smiths,  who  will  get  offended  at 
something  if  they  possibly  can ;  it  won't  do  to 
slight  them.  And  by  this  time  you  say,  "  Well, 
the  Jones'  live  right  next  door  on  the  other  side, 
and  they  invited  us  there  to  tea  last  month ;  I 
must  ask  them.  Dear  me  I  what  a  long  list  we 
are  getting."  Presently  Mr.  Linkeufelter  sa}Ts, 
"  I  don't  know  about  this,  Fidelia  ;  if  we  invite 
the  Carroltons,  and  we  ought  to,  you  know,  for 
Carrolton  sent  me  that  elegant  traveling  case. 


Practical  Arithmetic.  163 

Well,  if  we  ask  them,  the  Burtons  live  right  next 
door,  and  are  quite  intimate,  and  the  Burtons  are 
iny  heaviest  customers.  I  don't  know  them 
much  except  in  a  business  way,  but  I  think  it 
will  be  policy  to  invite  them."  And  the  next 
evening  he  says,  "  I've  been  thinking  about  the 
list,  Fidelia.  Don't  you  think  we  ought  to 
ask  John  and  Susy  Colvin  ?  John  has  been  in 
my  emyloy  before  this,  and  he  is  a  good  fellow 
enough.  He  is  doing  quite  a  growing  business, 
and  his  store  joins  mine."  Of  course  you  think 
they  ought  to  be  invited,  and  the  next  day  you 
receive  a  note  from  Mr.  Linkenfelter,  which 
-eads, — 

"  MY  DEAR  FIDELIA: —  I  find  that  two  of  my 
old  chums  are  in  town,  stopping  at  the  Claren 
don.  They  will  be  here  on  the  twenty-seventh. 
I  could  do  no  less  than  to  invite  them  to  our 
wedding.  I  am  sorry  to  swell  that  formidable 
list,  but  I  know  you  will  see  that  there  was  no 
help  for  it. 

"  Ever  yours,  LINKENFELTER. 

"P.  S.  —  One  of  the  boys  has  a  wife  with  him, 
and  I  have  just  learned  that  a  cousin  of  the  fam 
ily  is  traveling  in  company  with  them.  Four 
more  !  " 

In  the  evening  Mr.  Linkenfelter  and  yourself 


164  Household  Puzzles. 

count  the  list.  Now  weren't  you  astonished  ? 
Well,  this  is  precisely  the  manner  in  which 
Helen  and  Mr.  Munroe  made  out  their  list,  and 
they  were  astonished.  And  Maria  had  to  make 
the  wedding-cake,  with  Ermina  to  beat  the  eggf 
and  advise  her  to  put  in  just  a  very  little  more 
butter,  which  was  just  enough  to  make  the  cake 
as  heavy  as  lead.  She  didn't  make  the  bride's 
loaf. 

"I  can  make  it,"  she  said,  when  that  question 
was  up  for  discussion.  "  It  is  just  fruit-cake, 
and  fruit-cake  is  easier  to  make  than  any  other. 
You  put  a  pound  of  everything  under  the  sun 
into  it,  and  it  can't  fall  if  it  tries." 

"  Oh,  well,  you  can't  make  it  look  like  a 
boughten  cake,"  Helen  said.  "  They  do  some 
thing  to  them  that  makes  them  look  so  different 
from  home-made  cakes.  It  isn't  possible  to  make 
a  loaf  that  looks  like  theirs." 

"  Or  tastes  like  theirs,"  Ermina  said,  point 
edly. 

"  Well,  they  don't  taste  as  well  as  home-made 
cake.  I'll  admit  that ;  but  every  one  has  a  bride's 
loaf  from  Hackley's.  They  ornament  them 
beautifully,  and  one  done  at  home  looks  deci 
dedly  dowdy  after  seeing  those." 

"  But,  Helen,  they  cost  so  much,"  was  Maria's 
perpetual  rejoinder.  "  You  can't  get  a  loaf  from 
Hackley's  large  enough  for  your  purpose  for  lesa 
than  ten  dollars,  I  presume." 


Practical  Arithmetic.  165 

"Nonsense!  I  don't  believe  they  cost  so 
much  as  that;  and  if  they  do,  how  can  I  help  it? 
Jf  I  am  to  have  a  wedding  at  all  I  want  things 
decent.  You  are  always  saying  '  they  cost  so 
much.'  You  might  as  well  be  a  parrot." 

The  bride's  loaf  was  ordered,  and  two  days 
before  the  great  occasion  Tom  brought  it  home. 

"  It's  intolerably  heavy,"  he  said,  setting  down 
the  mountian  of  gleaming  frost  on  the  dining- 
table  with  a  thud.  "But  I've  got  something  in 
my  thumb  and  finger  that  is  heavier."  And  Maria 
left  her  raisins  and  Ermina  her  ruffle  to  come 
and  look  over  his  shoulder  at  the  weight  of  the 
bride's  loaf  expressed  in  dollars  and  cents  — 
$19.62.  Those  were  the  amazing  figures.  Not 
one  word  said  Maria,  she  went  back  to  her 
raisins  very  quietly  ;  but  Ermina,  looking  at  her 
face,  burst  into  a  sharp,  keen  laugh,  in  which 
Tom  joined. 

"  Helen,"  he  said,  calling  to  her  as  she  was 
passing  the  door,  "  Mr.  Gordon  sent  a  message 
to  you,  that  Abby  something  or  other,  who  is  in 
your  class,  Kelley '  her  name  is,  isn't  it  ?  has 
tumbled  down  stairs  and  broke  her  neck,  or,  no, 
it's  her  back.  They  are  poorer  than  poverty, 
it  seems,  since  the  father  was  killed,  and  the 
young  ladies  are  making  up  a  purse  for  them. 
They  meet  to  sew  for  them  this  afternoon  at 
Mrs.  Granger's,  and  the  little  muff  wants  to  sea 
you,  it  seems." 


166  Household  Puzzles. 

"  Mercy  on  me !  /  can't  go  to  see  her.  1 
haven't  time ;  and  as  for  sewing  for  her  I  can't 
get  my  own  sewing  done.  That  lavender  silk  is 
going  to  fit  elegantly,  girls.  I'm  sorry  for  that 
poor  little  thing.  I  wish  I  had  a  cent  of  money 
for  them.  That  is  one  of  the  delights  of  being 
poor ;  never  have  a  penny  to  give  away.  What's 
that,  the  cake  ?  Oh,  isn't  that  beautiful!  I  de 
clare,  Ermina,  it  is  larger  than  Fanny  Stuart's 
was,  and  more  nicely  ornamented,  too.  I'm 
glad  of  it.  They  thought  hers  was  something 
wonderful." 

"  Helen,"  called  Grace,  "  Miss  Evans  wants 
you  to  try  on  your  dress,"  and  Helen  vanished. 
Tom's  eyes  danced  with  fun. 

"  I'm  glad  I've  found  an  appropriate  wedding 
present  for  Helen,"  he  said,  wickedly. 

"What  is  it?  "  Ermina  asked,  with  eagerness. 

"  It  is  a  copy  of  an  illuminated  text,  like  one 
that  Hammond  got  for  his  sisters  the  other  day. 
It  will  be  eminently  appropriate :  "  Pure  relig 
ion,  and  undefiled  before  God  and  the  Father,  ia 
this,  To  visit  the  fatherless  fcnd  the  widow  in 
their  affliction,  and  to  keep  h'mself  unspotted 
from  the  world." 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

SENTIMENT  AND   DUST. 

iIJT  about  Maria's  trials  during  that  early 
morning.  In  the  first  place  she  had  se 
cured  for  "help"  Mrs.  Charlotte  Dick- 
son.  Now,  if  you  never  had  the  pleasure 
of  Mrs.  Charlotte  Dickson's  help,  she  de 
serves  an  introduction.  She  isn't  an  ordinary 
hired  girl,  far  from  it ;  she  doesn't  as  a  general 
thing  go  out  to  service.  Only  occasionally,  as  a 
matter  of  special  accommodation,  can  you  secure 
her  valuable  assistance,  during  which  time  you 
must  speak  and  act  and  step  with  caution,  for  if 
you  chance  to  remark  that  the  steak  is  tough 
or  the  potatoes  not  of  the  best  quality,  Mrs. 
Dickson  is  straightway  of  the  opinion  that  her 
services  do  not  suit,  and  sighs  and  sheds  a  few 
tears,  and  is  sorry  that  she  does  not  give  satisfac 
tion.  Also  she  is  an  early  riser ;  has  the 

167 


168  Household  Puzzles. 

potatoes  baked  and  the  eggs  boiled  at  a  quartei 
past  six  precisely,  and  the  breakfast  hour  is 
seven  ;  of  course  everything  is  delicious.  Maria 
nad  passed  through  trials  unnumbered  during 
the  week  preceding  the  eventful  morning.  Dur 
ing  the  cake-making,  Mrs.  Dickson  had  actually 
Deemed  to  be  an  avenging  spirit,  hovering  over 
open  dampers  that  ought  to  be  shut,  and  closed 
.slides  that  ought  to  be  open  ;  whisking  one  loaf 
oi  cake  surreptitiously  out  of  the  oven  JUJL  in 
*ime  to  have  it  pass  through  that  interesting 
process  known  as  "  falling,"  and  leaving  the 
jext  one  to  grow  brown  and  hard  while  she  took 
An  impromptu  lunch  in  the  pantry.  Oh,  the 
horrors  of  that  horrible  week,  culminating  in  the 
indescribable  confusion  of  that  morning.  Iwas 
mistaken  in  saying  that  Mrs.  Dickson  was  always 
an  early  riser ;  she  sometimes  overslept.  On 
this  particular  rooming  she  did  so,  and  Maria, 
coming  in  haste  to  the  kitchen  stove,  found  it 
fireless;  then  Mrs.  Dickson  pronounced  the  wind 
in  the  wrong  direction,  and  the  kindlings  damp, 
and  the  coal  soft —  the  fire  wouldn't  burn.  Did 
you  ever  stand  waiting  Cor  a  coal  fire,  and  occa 
sionally  give  it  a  despairing  poke  while  you 
waited?  Then  3'ou  can  appreciate  Maria's  feel 
ings.  She  decided  to  set  the  table  while  she 
waited,  during  which  process  the  following  con 
versation  ensued :  — 


Sentiment  and  Dust.  169 

"  Mrs.  Dickson,  where  is  the  other  sugar 
bowl?" 

"  I  don't  know,  I'm  sure." 

"  Why,  haven't  you  seen  it?  " 

"Not  that  I  remember;"  and  Mrs.  DickjOL 
composedly  tasted  the  wing  of  a  chicken. 

*•  Well,  won't  you  please  help  me  find  it  ?  It 
is  getting  late,  and  we  must  be  at  work  at  some 
thing." 

44  Well,  Miss  Maria,  I'm  sure  it  is  not  my 
fault  that  the  fire  won't  burn.  I've  poked  at  it 
ror  half  an  hour." 

"  I  didn't  say  it  was.     Won't  you  please  look 

t  that  bowl  ?  " 

Thus  entreated,  Mrs.  Dickson  wiped  her 
fingers  on  the  cloth  spread  over  the  biscuit,  over 
turned  a  chair  with  a  couple  of  plates  set  on  it, 
and  went  to  ransacking  among  the  china  dishes 
for  the  missing  bowl.  Ten  minutes  were  spent 
in  this  helpful  employment,  when  the  lady's  wits 
came  to  her  aid. 

"  Oh,  I  just  remember,  that  bowl  got  broke 
the  very  day  after  I  came  here.  Strange  that 
I  forgot  that." 

u  How  did  it  get  broken,  Mrs.  Dickson  ?  " 

44  Why,  I  was  settling  the  china  closet,  the 
dishes  were  all  out  of  place ;  your  Grace  set 
them  up,  and  she  is  no  hand  at  work,  anybody 
knows ;  and  I  just  got  down  that  sugar-bowl  to 


170  Household  Puzzles. 

see  if  it  was  all  right,  and  Ermina  she  can,« 
out  of  the  door  all  of  a  sudden,  and  kind  of 
startled  me,  and  down  went  the  sugar-bowl. 
It  wasn't  my  fault,  you  see." 

"  I  see,"  said  Maria,  dryly.  "  Well,  put  some 
sugar  in  a  common  bowl,  and  hurry,  please,  for 
it  is  getting  very  late." 

"  Oh,  there'll  be  time  enough,"  Mrs.  Dicksou 
said,  testily.  "  I  never  knew  a  bride  to  be 
ready  in  time ;  it  flurries  me  dreadfully  to  have 
to  hurry.  '  Don't  hurry  me  and  I'll  work  the 
cheaper,'  my  old  man  used  to  say,  and  there's  a 
good  deal  of  truth  in  it." 

*•  I  had  to  leave,"  said  Maria,  in  detailing 
her  experience  to  the  girls  afterward.  "  I  ran 
down  cellar  to  get  composed.  I  was  so  warm 
and  so  provoked  that  I  was  afraid  I  might  flurry 
her  if  I  stayed." 

Added  to  the  sense  of  responsibility  and  care 
that  rested  on  her  young  shoulders,  Maria's 
heart  was  sad.  The  four  sisters  had  never  been 
very  congenial  in  their  tastes  and  pursuits,  bat 
then  they  were  sisters,  and  had  lived  under  one 
shelter  all  the  days  of  their  lives.  The  first 
creak  was  to  be  made  to-day,  and  life  would 
never  be  again  just  what  it  had  been.  The 
sense  of  change  came  home  to  her  more  forcibly 
because  of  that  one  grave  in  their  lot  at  the 
cemetery.  She  had  found  during  the  last  year 


Sentiment  and  Dust.  171 

what  the  word  "  change  "  meant.  Maria  waa 
not  sentimental  in  the  common  acceptation  of 
that  abused  word,  but  she  was  true-hearted  and 
loyal.  Grace  came  to  the  kitchen  in  search  of 
her.  Grace  had  been  crying;  this  sister  had 
those  traits  about  her  that  the  family  unhesita 
tingly  pronounced  sentimental.  "  Helen  has 
snubbed  you  every  hour  since  you  were  born, 
and  here  you  are  making  your  nose  red  and 
puffy  because  she  is  going  around  the  corner  to 
live  in  a  house  of  her  own."  This  was  Tom's 
indignant  remonstrance;  yet  Grace's  tears  were 
not  stayed. 

"Come,"  she  said  to  Maria,  "almost  every 
thing  is  done.  Can't  you  spare  a  few  minutes 
to  go  up  and  see  Helen  ?  " 

"  What  should  I  go  there  for  ?  "  Maria  asked, 
bluntly,  preferring  not  to  understand  the  tender 
ness  that  prompted  the  petition. 

"  Oh,  I  hardly  know,"  Grace  said,  timidly. 
"She  is  dressed,  I  suppose,  by  this  time,  and 
she  will  never  be  in  her  own  room  up  there 
again  for  us  to  go  and  visit.  Let  us  go  up  a  few 
minutes." 

"  Pooh  !  she  will  be  in  her  own  room  for  us 
to  visit  a  thousand  times,  I  presume.  What 
difference  does  it  make?"  Maria  answered, 
rubbing  vigorously  on  the  silver  spoon  she  waa 
polishing.  Nevertheless,  she  finished  the  rest  in 


172  Household  Puzzles. 

haste,   and,   wiping    her    fingers,    said,    "Well, 
come  on,  then,  I  can  leave  for  a  minute.' 

"  We  have  come  to  take  our  last  peak  at 
Helen  Randolph,"  she  announced,  as  Helen 
answered  their  knock. 

"  Very  well ;  look  critically  then,  for  I  believe 
this  dr°ss  doesn't  hang  as  nicely  as  I  thought 
it  did.  I've  been  provoked  about  it  all  the 
morning." 

"  So  you  are  dressed  and  ready  ?  I  don't  see 
but  it  hangs  all  right.  How  do  you  feel  ?  " 

"  How  do  I  feel !  why,  just  as  I  always  do. 
How  should  I  feel  ?  Only  I'm  better  dressed 
than  I've  had  the  pleasure  of  being  in  somo 
time,  and  I  like  the  feeling  of  that  very  well." 

Maria  turned  away  abruptly.  "  It's  all 
clothes,"  she  said.  "  Helen,  you  didn't  dust 
your  room  very  well  after  sweeping."  This 
was  an  after  sentence  as  she  took  up  the  hand 
somely  bound  Bible  that  lay  on  the  upper  shelf 
of  the  book-rack. 

"  Mercy  on  me  !  "    Helen  said,  shortly.     "  I 
wonder  if  you  think   I've   been  sweeping  thir> 
morning.     That  is   precisely  like  you.     Maria 
if  you  ever  are  married  you'll  sweep  and  dus^ 
your   room    and    mend    your   stockings    fiitee 
minutes  before  the  ceremony  is  performed.     I 
haven't  swept  my  room  since   the   day   before 
yesterday,  and  I  didn't  dust  it  then." 


Sentiment  and  Dust.  173 

Maria  laughed.  "  I  was  wondering  when  this 
dust  accumulated,"  she  said,  as  she  drew  her 
fingers  over  the  dusty  Bible  —  she  herself  only 
read  the  Bible  occasionally,  on  rainy  Sundays  — 
but  it  jarred  upon  her  that  this  professing  Chris 
tian  should  leave  her  Bible  neglected  for  three 
days,  especially  on  days  so  fraught  with  life  as 
these.  I  have  often  been  struck  with  the 
promptness  of  the  unconverted  part  of  the  world 
>o  see  the  duties  that  their  Christian  neighbors 
ought  to  perform. 

Helen  glanced  up  quickly,  and  her  face 
flushed  a  little.  "  When  you  marry,  I  presume 
you  will  retire  to  your  room  and  do  nothing  but 
read  your  Bible  for  three  days  beforehand,"  she 
said,  dryly.  "  I  hope  you  will  have  time  for  it. 
I  am  sure  it  will  be  much  more  pleasant  than  to 
hurry  and  drive  through  the  days  as  I  have  had 
to,  doing  nearly  all  my  own  sewing."  This  last, 
considering  the  fact  that  the  three  sisters  had 
sewed  with  and  for  her,  from  early  morning  late 
into  the  night,  every  moment  that  they  could 
secure  from  other  duties,  was  somewhat  trying 
to  the  sort  of  flesh  and  blood  that  is  constituted 
as  Maria's  was,  and  she  spoke  with  sharp  sar- 
.casrn:  "Perhaps  I  will  have  twenty-one  tucks 
on  my  third  best  white  skirt,  instead  of  twenty- 
three,  and  snatch  the  intervening  time  for  read 
ing  a  few  verses,  that  is,  if  I  have  by  that  time 


174  Household  Puzzles. 

discovered,  judging  from  the  example  of  the 
Christians  around  me,  that  the  Bible  is  the  '  only 
infallible  rule  of  faith  and  practice.'  "  And  then 
Maria  went  back  to  the  spoons  and  Mrs.  Dick- 
son.  You  see  what  a  consistent  young  woman 
she  was.  She  was  actually  provoked  at,  and  dis 
appointed  in  Helen,  for  neglecting  for  three  days 
what  she  had  been  neglecting  ail  her  life. 
Something  of  the  absurdity  of  hei  owii  position 
came  dimly  across  her  mind,  and  that  lovely 
being  with  whom  we  so  delight  to  take  counsel, 
furnished  her  with  an  immediate  solution  of  her 
position.  "  But  you  make  no  profession,  you 
know." 

Oh,  wise  and  wily  Satan !  There  is  a  com 
mand  in  the  Bible  that  all  Christians  should 
study  it,  and  all  who  do  not  profess  to  be  Chris 
tians  should  let  it  alone,  isn't  there  ?  Or,  if  not, 
how  do  you  contrive  to  impress  such  an  idea  on 
your  votaries? 

"  Maria  is  queer,"  Helen  said,  as  the  door 
closed  after  her.  "Don't  you  go  to  being  like 
her,  Grace.  Strong-minded  women  are  incon 
venient  and  unfortunate  beings.  I  wonder  how 
we  came  to  have  one  in  our  family  ?  Grace,  do 
you  think  my  dress  hangs  well  ?  " 

"I  think  so,"  Grace  said  hesitatingly,  her 
Uioughts  far  away.  "  Helen,  do  you  dread  it  ?  " 

44  Dread  what  ?  " 


Sentiment  and  Dust.  176 

"Why,  the  new  life,  the  responsibility,  you 
know;  the  planning  to  have  everything  come 
out  right." 

"I've  nothing  to  plan,  child,  everything  is 
done  for  me.  My  house  is  nearly  ready  to  move 
into,  except  curtains  and  a  few  ornaments,  which 
I'll  risk,  but  that  I  can  plan  when  I  have  a  purse 
to  back  my  plans." 

"  Oh,  I  don't  mean  those  things.  I  know  you 
can  plan  curtains  and  vases,  but  I  mean  about 
the  —  well,  the  making  him  happy,  the  doing 
your  exact  duty  about  the  promises,  you  know  — 
they  use  so  many  solemn  words  in  the  marriage 
service  —  it  means  so  much,  it  makes  me  shiver 
all  over  to  think  of  trying  to  live  that  service." 

Helen  laughed.  "  You  are  a  sentimental  little 
puss,  and  I  am  not,"  she  said;  "that  is  the 
difference  between  us.  I'll  risk  but  that  one  of 
the  parties  will  be  happy ;  he  will  get  what 
he  has  been  planning  for  several  years  —  so  he 
says.  Grace,  do  you  think  my  gloves  are  a  good 
match  ?  " 

"  Very,"  said  Grace,  gently.  "  Can  I  do  any 
thing  for  you,  Helen  ? "  And  then  she,  too, 
went  down  stairs. 

Helen,  on  her  part,  was  not  so  entirely  unim- 
pressible  as  she  chose  to  appear.  As  faithful 
and  single-hearted  a  Christian  as  her  sister 
Maria  imagined  that  she  herself  would  be,  she 


176  Household  Puzzles. 

was  not,  neither  was  she  so  tender  in  her  sen 
sibilities  as  Grace,  yet  she  had  both  thought  and 
felt,  during  these  busy  days ;  fill  her  mind  as  she 
would  wilh  thoughts  of  her  elegant  lavender 
silk  and  kids  to  match,  and  real  lace  in  neck 
and  sleeves,  there  was  an  undertone  of  unrest, 
of  wonderment  as  to  whether  these  things  would 
last,  rather,  whether  the  lasting  things  would  be 
as  real  and  as  satisfactory  as  these.  She  went 
over  to  the  book-rack  and  took  up*  the  little 
Bible,  dusting  it  first  with  a  common  handker 
chief  which  lay  near  at  hand  ;  then  handling  it  in 
a  very  gingerly  manner  lest  it  might  soil  the 
lavender  kids,  she  turned  the  leaves,  saying, 
with  a  little  sigh, — 

"  I  shall  really  be  glad  to  get  settled,  so  I  can 
resume  some  of  my  old  habits  of  living.  At  the 
same  time  she  was  conscious  of  a  curious  mixture 
of  feelings  —  a  little  shiver  of  regret,  and  a  thrill 
of  satisfaction  —  both  of  these  over  the  one 
thought  that  the  old  habits  of  living  could  never 
be  resumed.  Then,  as  her  eyes  caught  certain 
words,  the  pink  flush  on  her  cheek  paled  a  little 
—  it  was  so  strange  to  have  this  thought  thrust 
into  the  midst  of  all  her  roseate  plannings, — 

"  Whereas  ye  know  not  what  shall  be  on 
the  morrow.  For  what  is  your  life?  It  is  even 
a  vapor,  that  appeareth  for  a  little  time,  and 
then  vanisheth  away."  She  closed  the  book 


Sentiment  and  Dust.  177 

suddenly,  and  laid  it  back  in  its  place.  If  this 
were  all  there  were  of  life  —  a  vapor  —  of  what 
use  were  lavender  silks  and  real  lace,  after  all?  " 

And  now  we  have  got  back  to  that  important 
moment  when  Maria  said  to  the  coffee,  "  Well, 
if  you  are  determined  to  boil  over,  you  must. 
Come,  Mrs.  Dickson."  And  they  went  to  the 
parlor.  It  was  all  very  elegant ;  the  bride  looked 
lovely ;  everybody  said  lavender  silk  and  real 
lace  were  becoming  to  her,  and  she  could  afford 
to  wear  them  now.  The  refreshments  were 
elegant,  too,  and  the  bride-cake  equal  to  Mrs.  St. 
Hudson's  any  day.  Mr.  Randolph  shivered  visi 
bly,  though  the  room  was  uncomfortably  warm ; 
but  he  saw  before  him,  in  vision,  another  bride 
in  white  silk  and  orange  blossoms,  over  whom  a 
May  sunshine  shimmered  twenty-five  years  ago, 
and  over  whom  the  snow  of  February  was  piled 
only  a  year  ago.  Helen  thought  of  it,  too- 
of  that  white  grave  —  and  her  face  grew  paler; 
over  and  over  in  her  brain  she  repeated  the  sen 
tence,  'k  It  is  even  a  vapor,  which  appeareth  for 
a  little,  and  then  vanisheth  away." 

"  Mrs.  Munroe,  let  me  present  to  you  my  con 
gratulations  and  earnest  wishes  for  your  future 
—  I  will  not  say  happiness,  because  that  word  is 
secondary  and  must  have  a  foundation,  let  me 
rather  say  faithfulness." 

It  was  Mr.  Harper's  clear,  distinct,  cultured 
12 


178  Household  Puzzles. 

• 

voice  that  addressed  the  bride.  It  startled  her 
from  her  unwelcome  thoughts ;  it  startled  her 
into  her  new  life.  She  was  Mrs.  Munroe,  then, 
positively.  She  had  not  realized  it  before,  even 
when  she  felt  the  tremble  of  her  father's  lips  as 
they  pressed  hers.  Then  there  came  to  the  new- 
made  bride  a  flash  of  her  old  dream  that  she 
used  to  dream.  "Helen  Harper,"  she  said 
again  to  herself.  Well,  it  never  could  have 
been.  How  silly  I  am,"  and  then  Mrs.  Munroe 
aroused  fully  to  the  sense  of  her  position.  She 
was  Mrs.  Horace  Munroe,  in  point  of  wealth 
quite  on  an  equality  with  any  of  these,  her 
friends  and  neighbors,  who  surrounded  her.  No 
danger  but  she  could  conduct  herself  in  a  manner 
befitting  her  position.  She  had  always  longed 
to  show  some  of  these  dowdy  women  of  wealth 
what  a  lady  of  taste  could  do  if  she  had  their  op 
portunity.  The  opportunity  was  hers  now. 
She  would  show  them.  Then  she  wondered 
what  kind  of  a  house  Mr.  Harper  had  in  New 
York,  and  if  he  really  were  worth  two  millions, 
as  people  said,  and  what  sort  of  a  lady  he  would 
marry.  "  He  will  never  murry  any  lady  in  this 
town,"  she  said,  emphatically  ;  and  this  bride  of 
an  hour  was  conscious  of  a  thrill  of  satisfac 
tion  over  that  thought.  She  vould  not  have  en 
joyed  the  elevation  of  any  of  her  acquaintances 
to  the  height  that  she  had  lost.  Lost !  And 


Sentiment  and  Dust.  179 

she  had  just  avowed  that  the  man  whose  name 
she  bore  was  all  in  all  to  her ;  else  what  did  the 
marriage  service  mean  ?  How  dared  she  dese 
crate  it  by  letting  it  mean  less  to  her  than  this  ? 
Helen  Munroe  was  woman  enough  to  be  ashamed 
of  herself. 

An  hour  later  she  drew  back  from  her  brother 
Tom's  parting  kiss  with  a  gesture  of  disgust. 
Tom  saw  the  movement,  and  knew  the  cause, 
and  sneered  at  both. 

"  She  will  have  to  get  used  to  something 
stronger  than  the  smell  of  wine,"  he  said  to 
Maria,  still  sneering.  "  It  won't  do  for  a  lady 
who  has  just  married  a  gentleman  drunkard  to 
be  too  fastidious." 

"  Tom !  "  said  Grace,  in  utter  dismay. 

"  I  tell  you,  my  innocent  young  sister,  he's  no 
more  nor  less  than  that;  and  Helen  knows  it, 
for  I  told  her." 

"Perhaps  your  own  condition  was  such  that 
she  couldn't  depend  on  your  evidence." 

This  sting  of  course  came  from  Maria ;  she  felt 
full  of  stings. 

"  Thank  you,"  Tom  said,  bitterly  enough,  and 
dashed  out  of  the  room. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

WATS  AND  MEANS. 

'N  the  multitude  of  counsel  there  is  safety.* 
Is  that  quoted  just  right,  Ermina?  You 
ought  to  be  posted  on  Bible  verses.  I'm 
needed  at  this  council,  I  presume.  Give 
us  the  subject." 
*'  One  would  think  you  might  know  it  by 
instinct,"  Ermina  answered,  looking  up  at  the 
handsome,  saucy  face  of  her  brother.  "  It  is  the 
everlasting  question  of  wa}rs  and  means.  I'm 
sick  of  it." 

"  Ways  in  which  money  has  flown  during 
the  last  six  weeks,  and  the  means  by  which  it 
can  be  got  back  again.  Is  that  it? " 

"Not  by  any  means.  It  is  ways  in  which  the 
bills  have  accumulated,  and  where  the  means 
are  to  come  from  to  pay  them  with." 

"Then  I'm  off;  you  don't  need  me.     Here  is 
Maria,  who  has  studied  that  question  ever  since 
she  sucked  her  thumb,  and  looked  wise  when 
180 


Ways  and  Means.  181 

she  was  two  days  old,  and  we  wondered  what 
she  was  thinking  about.  Her  wits  will  de 
velop  the  question  in  some  way;  if  they  don't 
it  isn't  worth  while  developing.  '  There's  a 
time  to  walk,'  Solomon  said,  and  my  time  for 
that  has  evidently  come." 

"  How  does  Tom  get  hold  of  so  many  verses 
from  the  Bible,  I  wonder  ?  "  Maria  said,  looking 
after  him  with  a  smile  and  a  sigh,  both  smile 
and  sigh  being  called  forth  by  sight  and  thought 
of  him. 

The  year  had  brought  changes  upon  him.  He 
looked  older  by  far  more  than  one  year,  and  his 
form  had  developed  into  manlier  proportions; 
but  —  Ah,  me!  that  little  word  and  the  blank 
after  it  means  a  great  deal.  "  I  am  not  afraid 
of  myself"  had  Tom  Randolph  said  in  pride 
to  the  earnest  caution  of  the  less  self-sufficient 
Peter.  If  he  only  had  been !  If  our  young 
men  of  to-day  could  only  learn  that  important 
lesson  to  be  afraid  of  themselves.  Among  all  his 
Bible  verses  had  he  never  discovered  that  one, 
44  Let  him  that  thinketh  he  standeth  take  heed 
lest  he  fall  ?  "  Well,  he  had  fallen.  The  wine- 
stained  breath  was  a  common  thing  in  the  Ran 
dolph  household  now ;  they  had  even  grown 
to  be  thankful  when  a  month  passed  with 
nothing  harder  to  endure  than  the  odor  of  wine. 
They  watched  his  home  coming  nightly  of  late, 


182  Household  Puzzles. 

either  Grace  or  Maria,  or  faithful  Peter,  lest  the 
father  might  hear  the  stumbling  steps  and  the 
thick  tongue.  Ermina  utterly  scorned  such 
vigil,  and  Helen  protested  that  their  father 
ought  to  know  about  it,  and  she  should  certainly 
tell  him,  but  she  never  did  ;  and  yet  all  were 
equally  sure  that  he  knew  about  it,  and  that  his 
step  was  slower  and  heavier  and  his  hair  grayer 
in  consequence.  A  sad,  hard  life  Mr.  Randolph 
led.  What  wonder  that  he  sometimes  looked 
•with  wistful,  longing  eyes  to  that  vacant  spot 
beside  that  one  grave  in  his  lot  at  the  cemetery. 
"  There  remaineth  therefore  a  rest  to  the  people 
of  God."  Maria  Randolph  was  not  given  to 
going  to  the  Bible  for  comfort;  she  had  not 
attained  to  that  degree  of  common  sense  ;  but 
she  knew  that  verse,  and  whenever  she  thought 
of  her  father  she  thought  of  that,  and  rejoiced 
over  it;  for  him  there  remained  a  rest,  she 
was  sure  of  it.  I  do  not  know  what  those 
who  are  content  to  live  all  their  days  without 
any  hope  of  the  "rest  that  remaineth"  would 
do  without  that  blessed  rest  in  which  to  consign 
the  blessed  fathers  and  mothers  who,  they  know, 
have  met  the  conditions.  Maria  had  no  heaven 
for  herself,  did  not  seek  for  it,  but  she  craved 
a  heaven  for  her  father,  and  would  not  have 
been  content  with  less. 

"Well,"   she   said,    turning    away    from   the 


Ways  and  Means.  183 

window  as  Tom  passed  out  of  sight,  "  ways  and 
means,  as  Tom  says,  here  are  the  ways,  piles  of 
them ;  thirteen  different  bills  that  father  knows 
nothing  about,  and  must  not  be  told  about. 
Now  what  is  to  be  done  ?  " 

"  What  is  the  use  of  asking  that  ?  "  Ermina 
said,  composedly.  "  What  is  the  sense  in  going 
all  this  over  every  time  an  extra  expense  comes 
up?  There  is  nothing  to  do,  and  we  never  do  it. 
We  might  save  our  breath." 

"  Speak  for  yourself,  Ermina.  Sometimes  we 
succeed  in  doing  it.  We  paid  three  bills  last 
fall  without  a  word  to  father." 

"  Yes,  by  starving  the  cat  and  freezing  us  all. 
I'm  sick  of  retrenchment  and  everything  else. 
We  can't  retrench  unless  we  die,  so  we  won't 
need  clothes  or  bread  in  the  future,  and  I'm 
nearly  ready  for  that  expedient." 

"Oh,  come,  Ermina,  don't  be  blue;  that  isn't 
your  forte,  as  Helen  would  say.  Doesn't  it 
seem  queer  not  to  have  Helen  present  at  our 
family  snarl  ?  " 

*'  I  wish  her  bills  were  not  present  for  us  to 
snarl  over." 

"  So  do  I  with  all  my  heart.  Girls,  suppose 
we  send  them  around  to  the  store  directed  to 
Horace  ?  Imagine  Munroe  senior  putting  on  his 
glasses  and  examining  them  :  '  To  cutting,  fitting 
and  trimming  three  dresses,  thirty-five  dollars 


184  Household  Puzzles. 

and  eighty-seven  cents ;  to  three  pairs  kids,  six 
dollars  and  seventy-five  cents  ;  to  one  pair  extra 
Alexandre's,  three  dollars  and  seventy-five  cents, 
and  so  on  indefinitely.  Now,  what  would  he 
think  of  his  new  daughter,  do  you  imagine  ? 
Wouldn't  it  be  rich  ?  " 

In  arranging  and  laughing  over  this  plan,  that 
neither  of  the  sisters  would  have  carried  out  if 
their  very  bread  had  been  the  alternative  at 
stake,  Ermina's  non-committal  good  humor  re 
turned.  Many  and  varied  were  the  schemes 
proposed  for  raising  money,  some  of  which  were 
unhesitatingly  laughed  down,  and  some  disposed 
of  with  sighs,  as  nice  but  impracticable. 

"  There  is  nothing  to  do  for  three-  respectable 
young  ladies,  who  can't  drum  on  pianos  with 
sufficient  force  to  be  justified  in  teaching  drum 
ming,  and  who  have  no  one  talent  in  particular 
to  emphasize,  as  people  in  books  are  always 
doing."  This  Ermina  said. 

"  I  have  read  somewhere,"  said  Grace, 
thoughtfully,  "  that  every  human  being  had  one 
special  talent,  sometimes  undeveloped,  but 
always  there,  ready  to  be  called  forth  in  emer 
gency.  I  have  often  wondered  if  that  were  true, 
and  what  mine  could  be." 

"  The  emergency  has  certainly  arisen,"  Maria 
Bciid.  tk  The  question  is,  where  are  the  talents  ? 
I  wish  they  would  start  into  notion  soon,  for  I 
am  tired  of  plodding  on  without  them." 


Ways  and  Means.  185- 

An  interruption  occurred.  Their  neighbor, 
Susie  Truesdell,  tapped  on  the  door,  then  opened 
it  and  put  her  head  in. 

"  Good  morning,"  she  said,  brightly.  "  Ex 
cuse  me,  I'm  in  a  hurry.  I've  been  to  the  post- 
office,  and  I  saw  a  letter  in  your  box  ;  it  is  right 
next  to  ours,  you  know,  so  I  took  the  liberty  of 
bringing  it  to  you.  No,  I  can't  come  in,  thank 
you.  I  must  run  along ;  mother  is  waiting  for 
these  hops." 

So  the  three  girls  put  their  heads  over  the 
letter. 

44  Who  can  it  be  from?  "  Grace  said,  curiously. 
"  It  is  addressed  to  Miss  Randolph.  That  must 
mean  you,  Ermina,  nowadays.  I  wonder  if  it 
is  frcm  some  one  that  knows  Helen  is  married?" 

44  I  should  think  much  the  easier  way  of  find 
ing  out  would  be  to  open  the  letter,"  said 
matter-of-fact  Maria. 

Thus  reminded,  Ermina  clipped  the  end  of 
the  dainty  white  missive,  and  disclosed  a  closely- 
written  sheet  in  a  dainty  feminine  hand. 

"That  miserable  running  Italian!"  she  said, 
in  disgust.  "  I  wish  she  had  taken  lessons  in 
respectable  penmanship  before  she  wrote  to  me, 
whoever  she  is." 

44  It  isn't  to  you  especially,"  Maria  said,  look 
ing  over  her  shoulder.  "  It  says  'Dear  Cousins.' 
Who  on  earth  can  it  be  from  ?  Let'a  look  at  the 
signature." 


186  Household  Puzzles. 

"No,"  said  Ermina,  positively;  "we'll  look 
at  the  signature  when  we  get  to  it.  Sit  down, 
Maria  ;  it  makes  me  nervous  to  have  you  look 
ing  over  my  shoulder.  I'll  read  it  aloud." 

"DEAR  COUSINS:  —  I  hope  you  will  let  me 
call  you  such,  though  I  am  only  your  mother's 
cousiu ;  but  I  remember  you  all  very  well,  only 
I  can't  think  which  of  you  is  the  oldest,  so  I 
have  to  direct  my  letter  awkwardly  enough  to 
'Miss  Randolph.'  I've  written  it  on  the  en 
velope,  and  it  looks  ridiculous.  I  hope  you 
won't  laugh  at  it,  because  there  is  really  nc 
other  way  to  do.  I  can't  remember  your  names, 
only  Maria,  and  it  seems  as  if  she  were  a  baby ; 
she  was,  when  I  saw  her,  a  very  quick-motioned, 
mischievous  baby ;  she  had  beautiful  eyes  ('  who 
in  creation  is  it  ?  '  here  interpolated  Maria)  ;  but 
I  suppose  she  is  a  young  lady  now,  for  that  was 
nearly  sixteen  years  ago.  I  am  twenty  myself. 
Auntie  Faye  says  it  is  utter  nonsense  to  suppose 
that  I  remember  Maria,  but  I  do  distinctly. 

"  But  you  don't  know  who  I  am,  do  you  ? 
And  you  don't  know  what  I  want.  That  last  is 
a  difficult  thing  to  ask,  so  I  will  hurry  and  ask 
it  just  as  quick  as  I  can.  I  want  to  come  and 
board  with  you  all  summer.  Now  isn't  that 
a  breathless  idea?  Then  there  is  another 
thing  you  must  know  right  away,  and  that 


Ways  and  Means.  187 

is,  there  are  two  of  us,  baby  and  me!  ('My 
patience!'  ejaculated  Maria.  'Ermina,  I  do 
wish  you  would  look  and  see  who  it  is.'  Er- 
mina  read  on.)  Baby  is  all  mine,  and  he  is  all  I 
have  now  in  the  world  ;  my  little  brother,  Perc} 
Halsted,  he  is  a  perfect  little  darling.  I  know 
you  would  love  him  —  everybody  does.  Mamma 
died  when  he  was  three  weeks  oltj,  and  papa 
died  just  before  he  was  born,  so  little  Percy  is  all 
I  have.  I  have  taken  care  of  him  always,  and 
every  beat  of  his  precious  little  heart  is  more 
precious  than  a  diamond  to  me.  He  is  a  year 
and  five  weeks  old,  just  the  age  that  Maria  was 
when  I  saw  her;  at  least  Auntie  Faye  says  she 
could  not  have  been  more  than  that.  I  want  to 
get  out  of  the  city  with  my  baby  this  summer. 
A  untie  Faye,  with  whom  I  live,  is  going  to  close 
her  house  and  go  to  Newport  with  her  son.  I 
don't  want  to  go  to  Newport ;  it  doesn't  seem  as 
though  baby  could  breathe  there.  I  want  to 
find  some  friends  —  some  relations,  you  know, 
who  are  really  and  truly  our  own.  I  do  belong 
to  you,  if  it  is  ever  so  distant,  and  I  want  to 
know  you.  Won't  you  take  us  to  board,  baby 
and  me  ?  We  would  be  as  little  trouble  as 
we  could,  and  we  would  pay  you  well  in  love 
and  in  money.  I  have  enough  of  the  latter 
stuff  for  all  that  baby  and  I  will  need  in  this 
world.  I  am  William  Halsted's  daughter,  you 


188  Household  Puzzles. 

know,  and  he  left  me  a  fortune ;  and  a  fortune  is 
a  cold,  hard  thing  to  have.  I  don't  think  much 
of  it ;  if  I  only  could  have  kept  my  dear  ones ! 
I  can't  talk  about  that  just  yet.  Well,  may  I 
come  ?  I  wish  I  could  think  of  your  names  and 
how  you  look.  I  remember  that  one  was  tall 
and  fair,  and  seemed  to  me  like  a  queen.  I 
know  your  dear  mamma  is  dead,  like  mine. 
Your  papa  wrote  to  Auntie  Faye  when  she  died. 
I  feel  very  sorry  for  you.  At  first  I  thought  I 
would  write  and  tell  you  so  at  the  time,  but 
1  didn't,  because  written  words  look  so  empty 
and  soulless.  I  know  just  how  lonely  you  are, 
because  I  have  experienced  it  for  myself;  but 
then  there  are  four  of  you,  and  only  one  of  me, 
and,  besides,  you  have  your  father ;  but  then 
1  know  that  a  mother's  grave  is  something  that 
can  never  be  closed  over.  Say  I  may  come, 
please.  I  want  to  very  much.  I  would  like  to 
come  in  about  three  weeks,  if  you  will  let  me. 
"  Your  loving  cousin, 

"FAITH  HALSTED." 

"Well I"  Maria  exclaimed,  when  the  last 
word  was  read.  "  Who  ever  heard  a  letter  like 
that  before  ?  " 

"  I  think  she  is  rightly  named,"  said  Ermina. 
"She  seems  to  have  unlimited  faith  in  every 
body." 


Ways  and  Means.  189 

"  I  tbiuk  it  is  a  beautiful  letter."  Grace  said, 
warmly.  "  It  sounds  as  though  she  sat  here  talk 
ing  with  us." 

"  Who  is  she,  anyway  ?  "  said  Maria.  "  Er- 
mina,  do  you  remember  her?" 

*' Of  course  I  remember  her  —  a  little  white 
creature,  in  white  muslin  dresses  and  blue  rib 
bons.  She  came  here  with  *  Auntie  Faye '  as 
she  calls  her  that  is  mother's  aunt  on  the 
germaiu  side.  Helen  and  she  and  I  used  to 
play  keep  house,  and  she  was  our  little  girl. 
She  was  a  year  or  two  younger  than  I,  perhaps 
more,  and  ever  so  much  smaller ;  but  she  used  to 
manage  to  have  exactly  her  own  way.  We 
never  could  quite  tell  how." 

"Well,  she  evidently  has  some  of  the  *  stuff* 
that  is  very  scarce  in  this  house.  If  she  will 
pay  a  good  price  for  her  board,  I  move  that  we 
write  to  her  to  come."  This  was  practical 
Maria's  conclusion. 

"  It  will  be  soothing  to  Mrs.  Horace  Munroe's 
nerves  to  think  that  she  is  really  a  cousin, 
provided  we  do  have  to  descend  to  taking 
boarders.  Peter  Armstrong  has  been  almost  too 
much  for  her  constitution."  This  was  Ermina's 
expression  of  opinion. 

"  It  would  be  nice  to  have  a  darling  little 
baby  in  the  house,"  said  Grace ;  hereby  indica 
ting  her  character  as  plainly  as  her  elder  sisters 
had  theirs. 


190  Household  Puzzles. 

There  was  a  general  discussion  of  the  impor 
tant  subject  at  the  dinner  table.  Tom's  opinion 
was  that  there  were  girls  enough  in  the  family ; 
that  it  would  be  poky  to  have  another  one, 
and  that  babies  always  squeaked  in  the  night, 
and  pulled  hair  and  whiskers  in  the  daytime. 
But  during  these  days  Tom  Randolph's  opinion 
had  as  little  weight  as  it  was  possible  for  an 
opinion  to  have,  and  it  was  passed  over  in 
silence.  There  was  a  show  of  appealing  to  Mr. 
Randolph,  who  declared  nervously  that  the  mat 
ter  was  in  safe  hands.  He  should  asquiesce 
in  any  decision  that  they  chose  to  make,  and 
added, — 

"  We  must  invite  her  to  make  us  a  visit 
anyway.  Her  Aunt  Faye  was  your  mother's 
favorite  aunt." 

Maria's  comment  on  this  sentence  of  her 
father's,  was, — 

"It  seems  to  be  impossible  for  a  Randolph  to 
give  up  the  idea  that  we  are  well-to-do,  hospita 
bly-inclined  people.  I  wonder  if  it  wouldn't 
utterly  surprise  father  to  know  that  we  rejilly 
haven't  a  cent  of  money  in  the  house,  and 
haven't  had  for  three  weeks.  When  Faith 
Halstead  gets  invited  here,  I'm  inclined  to  think 
that  it  will  be  on  condition  that  she  pays  a  good 
round  sum  for  her  board  every  Saturday  night." 

44  Where   are  you   goincj  ?  "    questioned    that 


Ways  and  Means.  191 

rame  sister  aii  hour  later,  as  Ermina  came 
through  the  kitchen  dressed  for  the  street. 

"  Going  to  walk  out  for  my  health,"  said  Er 
mina,  gathering  up  the  silver-gray  dress  lest 
it  should  come  in  contact  with  the  coal  scuttle. 
Perhaps  it  was  not  in  human  nature  not  to 
feel  aggrieved,  for  the  afternoon  was  bright  and 
sunny,  and  the  kitchen  was  as  hot  as  a  furnace. 
There  were  piles  of  dishes  on  the  table,  wait 
ing  to  be  washed,  and  the  kitchen  was  to  under 
go  that  horrid  process  known  as  mopping. 

"  It  wouldn't  particularly  offend  me  if  she 
should  take  hold  and  help  with  this  work,"  Ma 
ria  said,  energetically,  as  the  silver-gray  dress 
rustled  by  and  vanished. 

"Perhaps  she  has  the  headache,"  said  gentle 
Grace,  who  was  ironing  Helen's  black  and  white 
striped  calico,  with  three  ruffles  on  the  skirt. 

"Headache!"  said  the  lady  at  the  dish-pan, 
rattling  cups  and  saucers  fiercely.  "  So  have 
I  the  headache,  and  the  heartache  too,  maybe  — 
if  I  have  any  heart.  What  if  /  should  put  on 
my  gray  dress  and  walk  out  this  nice  day.  I've 
a  great  mind  to  do  it  sometime,  and  see  how  my 
lady  would  enjoy  it." 

Two  hours  afterward  both  mopping  and  iron 
ing  were  done,  and  Maria  was  resting  from 
her  labors  in  the  old-fashioned  rocking  chair, 


192  Household  Puzzles. 

reading  the  local  column  of  the  daily  paper,  when 
Erraina  walked  gravely  in. 

"  I  have  been  in  search  of  ray  mission,"  she 
said,  dropping  on  the  lounge,  and  using  yester 
day's  Standard  for  a  fan.  "You  will  doubtless 
be  charmed  to  hear  that  I  found  it." 

"  On  the  street  ?  "  said  Maria,  coldly. 

"  No,  in  a  back  room  whose  windows  look 
out  on  a  coal-yard.  I  concluded  that  if  I  had 
any  undeveloped  talents,  they  lay  in  managing 
a  Grover  &  Baker  sewing  machine.  So  I  have 
engaged  myself  to  Madame  Roller,  as  a  machine 
hand.  Her  advertisement,  perhaps  you  ob 
served,  has  been  in  the  paper  for  several  days." 

Maria  dropped  the  paper  and  sat  erect. 

"  Ermina  Randolph!  "  she  said,  her  voice  full 
of  exclamation  points. 

"  Yes,  just  so,"  answered  Ermina,  gravely. 
"How  do  you  imagine  Mrs.  Horace  Munroe  will 
enjoy  me  for  a  sister  now  ?  " 

"  How  came  you  to  do  it  ?  " 

"  I  wanted  to  develop  my  talents,  as  I  ob 
served,  and  I  never  discovered  a  hint  of  said 
articles  in  any  other  direction.  I  went  on  this 
particular  afternoon  because  —  I  don't  mind  tell 
ing  you  that  —  I  preferred  to  be  in  the  full 
exercise  of  my  gifts  before  the  arrival  of  Faith 
llulsted,  if  she  is  to  come." 


Ways  and  Mean*.  193 

Be  it  known  that  this  was  a  triumph  over 
Ermina  Randolph's  proud  and  indolent  self, 
which  was  understood  and  appreciated  by  her 
youngest  sister. 

"It  is  twenty  times  harder  for  her  than  for 
me,"  she  soliloquized ;  "  because  she  cares  for 
what  '  they  '  say.  It  is  her  nature  to  care,  and  I 
really  think  I  rather  enjoy  shocking  '  them.'  It 
was  real  noble  in  her.  And  to  think  that  I 
grumbled  about  her  not  staying  to  help  with  the 
dishes!  "  Then,  aloud,  she  said, — 

"  Well,  you  walked  out  for  the  health  of  other 
people  as  well  as  yourself,  I  think,  this  time. 
As  for  Helen,  she  can't  expect  us  to  live  on  the 
strength  of  her  grandeur.  It  will  be  easier  for 
father,  Ermina." 

That  evening  Ermina  wrote  to  Faith  Halsted 
that  they  would  be  glad  to  welcome  her  when 
ever  she  should  choose  to  come. 
13 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

PUZZLING  PEOPLE. 

HERE  was  an  air  of  expectancy  about 
the  Randolph  household;  they  were  in 
what  Maria  called  "a  state  of  cleared- 
upness,"  and  gathered  in  the  back  par 
lor  at  an  unusually  early  hour  in  the 
afternoon. 

Tom  had  gone  to  the  station  to  meet  the  new 
comers  —  Faith  and  Baby  Halsted.  He  had 
gone  rather  against  his  will;  in  fact,  this  innova 
tion  was  not  of  his  appointing. 

"I  don't  want  to  go  prowling  through  the 
depot  in  search  of  a  strange  girl  with  red  hair 
and  a  baby,"  he  growled,  when  the  arrangement 
was  being  made.  "She  will  be  dowdy-looking; 
women  with  baules  always  are.  And  I  shall 
be  expected  to  carry  the  baby,  and  it  will  have  a 
stick  of  candy  in  one  hand  arid  a  hunk  of  ginger 
bread  in  the  other." 
194 


Puzzling  People.  195 

"  All  of  which  will  be  much  more  respectable 
than  a  great  many  positions  in  which  you 
must  have  found  yourself  of  late,"  Ermiua  ob 
served,  serenely.  "  At  any  rate,  you  will  have 
to  go;  we  can't  expect  father  to  do  it,  and  as 
we  have  a  brother,  it  is  supposed  to  be  his  place 
to  be  courteous  to  company." 

"Especially  the  boarders,"  chimed  in  Maria. 
"Don't  let  us  lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  this 
'  company,'  is  going  to  pay  a  wholesome  price  for 
her  board,  every  week  of  her  life." 

"  You  would  have  been  considerably  wiser 
if  you  had  allowed  her  to  set  her  own  price 
for  board.  She  is  worth  five  hundred  thousand, 
to  speak  within  bounds.  Horace  is  acquainted 
with  their  business  lawyer,  and  we  met  him  in 
New  York ;  he  says  this  girl  has  as  much  as  that 
in  her  own  right,  and  that  she  is  Auntie  Faye's 
heir  ;  besides,  she  would  have  paid  you  a  splen 
did  price  for  her  board,  for  they  have  the  name 
of  being  liberal  people." 

This  bit  of  advice  and  information  came  from 
Mrs.  Horace  Munroe,  who  was  at  home  spending 
the  day,  overlooking  the  arrangements  for  re 
ceiving  the  new  comers,  and  giving  advice  freely 
on  all  subjects.  Ermina's  lip  curled  visibly,  and 
Maria,  as  usual,  spoke  her  thoughts. 

•'  We  haven't  reached  as  low  a  notch  as  that, 
Helen,  if  we  are  poor.  She  asked  us  to  name 


196  Household  Puzzles. 

our  price,  just  as  any  lady  of  delicacy  of  feeling 
would  have  done,  and  we  did  it ;  a  good  fair 
price  it  is,  too,  more  than  she  would  have  to  pay 
in  hundreds  of  places  where  she  could  have  gone ; 
but  it  no  more  than  pays  us  for  the  extra  ex 
pense  and  trouble  it  will  be  to  us,  and  I  for  one 
wouldn't  have  taken  a  cent  more  than  that. 
When  I  take  to  begging  for  a  living  it  shall  be 
out-and-out  begging;  1  won't  whine  around  any 
one  and  say,  '  you  are  rich  and  we  are  poor,  and 
you  are  our  twenty-third  cousin,  you  know,  so 
please  give  us  five  times  the  worth  of  your  living, 
for  sweet  charity's  sake,  and  call  it  board,  you 
know.'" 

Mrs.  Munroe  laughed. 

"You  are  ridiculously  fastidious  in  3*our  no« 
tions,  child,"  she  said,  with  infinite  patronage 
in  her  voice  ;  "  but  you  will  recover  from  some 
of  your  follies  by  the  time  you  have  rubbed 
through  with  as  much  life  as  I  have.  Take 
what  you  can  get,  and  have  as  nice  a  time  as 
you  ca*h  in  this  world,  is  my  motto." 

She  spoke  serenely  —  much  more  serenely 
than  Helen  Randolph  was  given  to  doing.  She 
looked  well,  too ;  black  silk  dresses  and  real 
lace  ruffles  were  undoubtedly  becoming  to 
Helen  Munroe.  She  seemed  made  to  adorn 
them. 

"One   would    never  imagine   that    she    had 


Puzzling  People.  197 

turned  her  dresses  upside  down  and  wrong  side 
out,  and  darned  forty  holes  under  the  ruffles." 

This  was  Ermina's  comment  on  the  serene, 
faultlessly-dressed  lady  ;  and  this  just  expressed 
it.  She  looked  like  one  born  to  the  position 
which  she  was  now  filling,  so  easily  and  grace 
fully  had  she  slipped  into  the  "  real  "  things,  at 
least  so  far  as  lace  and  silk  and  velvet  were 
concerned. 

Many  were  the  surmises  concerning  the  ap 
pearance  of  the  coming  lady. 

"  I  think  she  is  tall  and  thin  and  pale,"  Grace 
said.  "Don't  you  believe  she  is,  Ermina?" 

"I  don't  believe  anything  about  it.  She  was 
perhaps  three  }'ears  old  when  I  saw  her;  or 
four,  didn't  she  say?  and  I  must  have  been  very 
little  more  than  that.  It  is  a  poor  age  for  de 
termining  whether  one  is,  '  tall  and  thin  and 
pale.'  She  was  a  pretty  little  thing ;  wasn't 
she,  Helen  ?  " 

"  Not  particularly  pretty ;  but  she  contrived 
to  make  every  one  imagine  that  she  was.  I 
never  quite  liked  her.  Everybody  humored  her 
so  continually  that  it  gave  me  a  sense  of  never 
having  my  own  way." 

*'  That  must  certainly  have  been  trying  to 
your  disposition,"  Maria  said,  merrily.  "  I  can't 
conceive  of  there  having  been  a  time  when  you 
didn't  try  pretty  hard  for  your  way." 


198  Household  Puzzles. 

"Maria,"  said  Mrs.  Munroe,  as  she  finished 
one  of  the  little  crimson  wheels  that  she  was  cro 
cheting,  and  laid  it  against  the  black  ground  of 
her  dress,  to  try  the  effect ;  "  I  hope,  for  your 
sake,  that  she  won't  be  *  sharp'  Two  sharp  peo 
ple  in  one  family  would  be  very  .  asping  to  the 
nerves,  and,  as  I  remember  her,  I  should  say 
that  it  was  the  most  likely  thing  in  the  world 
that  she  is  sharp.  I'm  glad  I  don't  live  here." 

This  last  with  a  complacent  glance  at  the 
house  nearly  across  the  street,  with  its  lace 
curtains  at  the  windows,  and  its  body  Brussels 
carpeting  that  her  mind's  eye  beheld.  Mrs. 
Munroe  had  always  looked  with  longing  eyes 
upon  body  Brussels  carpets,  now  she  trod  on 
them  with  satisfied  feet,  every  day  of  her  life. 

Futher  comment  was  interrupted  by  the  roll 
of  carriage  wheels,  and  the  exclamation  from 
Grace, — 

"  There  they  come  !  " 

"  In  one  of  Smith's  hacks,"  said  Mrs.  Horace 
Munroe.  "That's  just  like  Tom,  when  he 
knows  Stuart's  are  ever  so  much  nicer." 

"  Why,  she  isn't  larger  than  a  minute,"  Er- 
mina  said,  peering  from  the  window  at  the 
small  creature  who  sprang  briskly  from  the 
carriage,  after  giving  a  parcel  carefully  into 
Tom's  hands. 

"  Tom  has  the  baby  I  "  exclaimed  Grace,  in  a 


Puzzling  People.  199 

tone  of  intense  satisfaction.  "  He  declared  he 
would  not  touch  him." 

"What  else  could  he  do  with  him?"  Maria 
said,  composedly.  "  Why  don't  they  bring  him 
in,  and  not  stand  bothering  over  the  baggage  ?  " 

"Stand  back  from  the  window,  Maria,"  Mrs. 
Munroe  said,  authoruatively.  "  It  is  in  wretch 
ed  taste  to  stare  at  people.  Grace,  do  sit  down. 
Ermina,  aren't  you  going  to  the  door  to  meet 
her  ?  You  forget  that  you  are  Miss  Randolph, 
now." 

"  On  the  contrary,"  said  Ermina,  coolly,  "  I 
have  a  realizing  sense  of  it ;  you  are  the  only 
one  who  seems  disposed  to  ignore  that  important 
fact.  Please  to  remember  that  we  do  not  live 
in  a  stone  house,  with  lace  curtains  and  lambre 
quins,  so  we  have  a  right  to  stare  just  as  much 
as  we  please.  No ;  I'm  not  going  to  the  door, 
as  if  we  were  slaves  and  she  our  queen.  Tom 
knows  the  way  in." 

Apparently  he  did,  for  at  this  point  the  door 
swung  open  and  Tom  set  a  bundle  down  in  the 
middle  of  the  room.  Said  bundle  shook  itself 
and  revealed  inside  of  its  white  cloak,  a  small, 
fair,  blue-eyed  baby,  who  looked  around  the 
room  with  a  delighted  smile,  clapped  a  pair  of 
small,  fat  hands,  and  said,  emphatically, — 

"  Ta,  Tare  !  " 

"  Oh,  the  little  darling !  "  said  Grace,  i  ushing 


200  Household  Puzzles. 

toward  him,  and  the  rest  were  welcoming  his 
sister  Faith. 

"  Which  is  which  ?  "  she  said,  looking  earnest 
ly  from  one  to  the  other.  "  Oh,  you  are  Maria 
—  now  aren't  you  ?  There,  what  a  triumph  !  I 
told  Auntie  Faye  I  remembered  your  eyes;  now 
I  have  proved  it.  And  this  is  Helen  —  or,  no; 
Mrs.  Munro3.  You  live  nearly  across  the  way, 
Tom  says.  Isn't  that  splendid  ?  baby  and  I  can 
call  on  you  every  morning.  Oh,  isn't  my  babv  a 
darling?" 

Altogether,  Mrs.  Munroe's  dignified  reception, 
in  which  she  was  to  prove  to  this  young  heiress 
that  sAe,  at  least,  was  equal  in  position  and 
culture  to  herself,  seemed  not  to  fit  the  present 
occasion.  One  might  as  well  have  to  be  ceremo 
nious  with  a  robin.  Some  way  they  all  forgot 
dignity  and  propriety,  and  were  in  full  tide  of 
eager  talk  when  Tom  came  from  the  trunks  and 
the  hack-driver. 

"  Isn't  she  a  case  ?  "  he  said  to  Maria,  follow 
ing  her  to  the  kitchen  for  a  confidential  chat. 
"  I  don't  know  whether  she  is  as  '  harmless  as  & 
dove '  or  as  *  wise  as  a  serpent,'  or  both,  or* 
neither;  I  know  I  never  met  such  a  creature 
since  I  was  born.  Why,  Maria,  she  knows 
more  about  our  neighbors  than  you  do ;  she 
asked  all  manner  of  questions  concerning  them,, 
and  was  as  interested  in  the  number  of  children 


Puzzling  People.  201 

each  of  them  owned  as  if  she  meant  to  start 
a  select-school  in  this  neighborhood  to-morrow, 
and  live  on  it  the  rest  of  her  days." 

"Indigestible  living,"  said  Maria.  "Tom, 
won't  you  get  me  a  pail  of  water?  she  might  not 
think  it  aristocratic  in  me  to  go  myself,  and  she 
stands  looking  out  of  the  window  —  I  see  her." 

They  had  a  very  merry  tea. 

Mr.  Randolph  came  home  early,  dreading  the 
presence  of  a  stranger  —  eager  to  have  the  meet 
ing  over  and  to  get  back  to  his  office. 

The  new-comer  stood  at  the  window  as  the 
gate  clicked. 

"  Is  that  he  ?  "  she  asked,  eagerly.  "  Is  that 
Gncle  Randolph  ?  Who  is  that  other  gentleman 
—  a  young  one?" 

"  That  is  my  husband,"  Helen  answered,  with 
conscious  pride. 

Mr.  Munroe  was  a  handsome  young  man  — 
she  expected  him  to  make  an  impression. 

"Oh,"  Faith  said,  "then  it's  all  in  the 
family.  We'll  go  and  meet  them.  Where's  my 
baby?" 

And  catching  him  from  Grace's  arms,  she 
perched  him  on  her  shoulder,  and  ran  gayly  out 
to  the  hall.  They  heard  her  clear,  ringing 
voice, — 

"We're  coming  to  meet  you,  Uncle  Randolph; 
baby  and  I.  We  are  going  to  call  you  '  Uncle 


202  Household  Puzzles. 

Randolph,'  both  of  us,  because  we  have  no  uncle 
of  our  own,  and  we've  always  wanted  one-— kiss 
the  new  uncle,  Pearly.  You  don't  mind  being 
our  uncle,  do  you,  sir  ?  " 

Baby  touched  his  cool,  pink  tongue  to  Mr. 
Randolph's  sallow  cheek,  and  immediately  there 
after  seized  upon  his  gold-bowed  glasses  by  way 
of  recompense. 

"  Yes,  I  mind  it,"  said  Mr.  Randolph,  heart 
ily  ;  "  I  shall  be  most  thankful  to  have  a  niece 
and  nephew.  You  don't  remember  my  wife,  I 
suppose,"  and  his  voice  faltered.  "  You  are 
just  her  size." 

"  I  remember  her  distinctly"  Faith  said  ear 
nestly.  "Not  her  face,  you  know,  but  her 
kisses.  I  was  homesick,  and  she  kissed  me  like 
mamma.  I  never  forgot  them." 

Mr.  Randolph  bent  over  and  kissed  her  on 
cheek  and  lip,  leaving  the  touch  of  a  tear  on  her 
face.  He  was  not  given  to  caresses,  was  not 
a  demonstrative  man  ;  but  he,  too,  remembered 
tender-clinging  kisses  that  he  used  to  have  and 
received  no  more.  Faith  Halsted's  place  in  his 
heart  was  secured.  Mr.  Munroe  had  meantime 
been  divesting  himself  of  his  duster  and  making 
silent  advances  toward  friendship  with  the  bright- 
eyed  baby.  He  turned  to  Faith  now. 

*'  I  am  not  to  be  left  out  in  the  cold  I  trust," 
he  said,  with  a  winning  smile.  "  I  think,  ac- 


Puzzling  People.  203 

cording  to  the  compact  which  has  just  been 
formed,  I  must  be  a  cousin." 

"  Oh,  yes,"  said  Faith,  heartily.  "  You  are 
Helen's  husband ;  she  told  me  so ;  she  said  it  as 
if  she  thought  you  were  very  nice ;  and  as  foi 
baby  and  me,  we  are  glad  of  all  the  relations  we 
can  get ;  we  have  been  alone  a  long  time.  DC 
you  like  baby  kisses?  Pearly,  have  you  a  kisi 
for  Cousin  Horace  ? "' 

But  Pearly  was  seized  with  one  of  those  obsti 
nate  fits  peculiar  to  babydom,  and  would  neither 
kiss  nor  shake  hands  nor  make  a  bow;  in  fact  he 
ignored  the  gentleman  completely  and  tugged 
mercilessly  at  Mr.  Randolph's  whiskers.  But 
the  introductions,  which  Mrs.  Munroe  had 
planned  to  conduct  with  due  ceremony,  were 
over,  and  the  whole  company  went  gayly  out  at 
Maria's  call  to  the  table.  In  the  little  sitting- 
room  that  same  evening  Faith  made  the  acquain 
tance  of  Peter  Armstrong.  The  early  spring 
evenings  were  cool  for  baby  natures,  and  at 
sunset  a  fire  was  built  in  the  cosy  back  sitting- 
room,  which,  with  the  large  room  adjoining,  had 
been  given  up  to  Faith.  Tom's  business  calling 
him  elsewhere,  Peter  volunteered  to  be  fire- 
builder,  and  was  bent  down  in  front  of  the  stove 
when  Faith's  clear  voice  addressed  him. 

"  You  are  Peter  Armstrong,  I  think,  and  I  am 
Faith  Hulsted.  Shall  we  shake  hands  on  it  ?  " 


204  Household  Puzzle*. 

Peter  stood  up  suddenly  in  great  surprise 
a  small  white  hand,  on  which  a  single  diamond 
gleamed,  was  held  out  to  meet  his  red,  rough 
one ;  this  was  an  utterly  new  experience  to  him, 
nevertheless  he  held  his  red  hand  out  for  her 
to  do  with  it  what  she  would,  and  she  clasped  it 
cordially. 

Pearly  sat  in  the  middle  of  the  floor,  gravely 
watching  the  operation,  and  at  this  point  he 
laughed,  showing  half-a-dozen  dainty  pearls,  and 
clapped  his  small  fat  hands. 

"•  Baby  approves  of  our  acquaintance,"  said 
Faith.  "You  must  consider  that  a  compliment; 
he  doesn't  like  everybody." 

Peter  smiled  broadly  and  snapped  a  clumsy 
thumb  and  forefinger  at  baby,  whereupon  that 
small  being  went  into  a  perfect  ecstasy  of  laughs, 
and  crows,  and  spatting  of  hands.  Baby  be 
lieved  in  Peter.  Faith's  next  sentence  was  as 
unexpected  and  quite  as  bewildering  to  her  new 
acquaintance  as  the  hand-shaking  had  been. 

"  I'm  much  interested  in  your  method  of  read 
ing  the  Bible,"  she  said,  simply.  Peter  stared. 

"  My  method  I  "  he  repeated,  in  a  dazed  sort 
of  a  way ;  he  hadn't  the  least  idea  that  there 
was  such  a  thing  as  method  about  his  reading. 

"  Yes,  Tom  told  me.  I  like  it  ever  so  much  ; 
if  my  name  had  been  Mary  or  Sarah  I  should 
have  done  the  same.  How  did  you  happen  to 
think  of  it?*1 


Puzzling  People.  205 

Now,  Tom's  information  had  been  given  on 
this  wise  :  Finding  his  companion  interested  in 
every  man,  woman,  child,  and  even  animal,  that 
they  saw  during  their  ride  from  the  depot,  he 
had  said,  among  other  things,  as  he  chanced  to 
see  Peter  crossing  the  street,  "  There's  Peter 
Bible." 

And  she  responded,  "  Peter  Bible  I  what  a 
very  queer  name." 

"  He's  a  queer  fellow,"  Tom  had  said ;  "  that 
name  is  one  of  my  coining;  part  of  it  at 
least ;  his  name  is  Peter,  but  the  Bible  part 
grew  out  of  the  fact  that  he  has  lately  taken  to 
hunting  up  the  old  fellow  who  figured  in  those 
days,  and  comparing  notes  with  him."  Then 
Faith  had  asked  numberless  questions  concern 
ing  Peter  Armstrong,  and  secured  his  history,  so 
far  as  Tom  could  give  it.  So  now  she  said, 
*'  how  did  you  happen  to  think  of  it  ?  " 

"Tom  told  me  about  him,"  Peter  said,  simply. 
"I  don't  know  much  about  the  Bible,  ma'am. 
I'm  reading  it  over  for  the  first  time ;  but  he 
mentioned  to  me  that  there  was  a  Peter  in 
the  Bible,  and  I  naturally  wanted  to  know  about 
him." 

"  Well,  how  do  you  like  him  ?  "  Faith  asked, 
as  she  rescued  a  match  and  a  pair  of  scissor,, 
from  Pearly's  grasp. 

"  I'm  disappointed  in  him,"  Peter  said,  grave 


206  Household  Puzzles. 

ly,  the  sad,  perplexed  look  which  she  had  first 
noticed  sweeping  over  his  face  as  he  bent  down 
again  to  the  fire.  Faith  tried  to  suppress  a 
laugh ;  one  of  her  propensities  was  to  laugh 
at  inconvenient  times,  but  it  certainly  did  seem 
funny  to  hear  this  rough-faced,  roughly  clothed 
boy  express  his  disappointment  in  St.  Peter  with 
his  eighteen  hundred  years  of  glory  about  him. 

"  What  has  he  been  doing?  "  she  asked,  when 
she  could  command  her  voice. 

Peter  sighed  heavily.  "  He's  so  queer,"  he 
said,  gravely.  "  He  does  things  when  you  least 
expect  him  to.  Now,  night  before  last  I  was 
reading  about  the  wondeiful  things  that  Jesus 
suid  to  him,  how  he  called  him  blessed  and  said, 
*  Thou  art  Peter,  and  upon  this  rock  I  will 
build  my  Church,'  and  I  thought  how  happy 
Peter  must  have  been,  and  it  seemed  to  me 
he  could  never  do  anything  wrong  again,  and 
last  night,  only  a  few  verses  after  that,  I  came 
upon  this  one:  'Then  Peter  took  him,  and  began 
to  rebuke  him,  saying,  Be  it  far  from  thee,  Lord; 
this  shall  not  be  unto  thee.'  And  he  was  speak 
ing  to  Jesus  himself!  Only  think  of  that  now. 
'  Began  to  rebuke  him  ! '  That  does  beat  all 
J  ever  heard  of.  I  don't  know  who  could  help 
being  disappointed  in  him." 

The  laugh  was  gone  from  Faith's  face ;  in 
its  place  was  sadness.  "  I  know,"  she  said, 
musingly,  "  how  like  ourselves  it  is." 


Puzzling  People.  207 

"  Ma'am ! "  said  Peter,  in  wondering  amaze 
ment.  "  Do  you  think  it  is  the  way  folks  would 
do  now?  I  can't  think  it.  I  know  I  wouldn't 
speak  that  way  to  the  Lord  himself." 

Faith  smiled.  "  I  am  thinking  of  one  part 
of  the  words  and  you  of  another,"  she  said.  "  I 
was  thinking  of  '  This  shall  not  be  unto  thee.' 
How  often  we  say  it  in  spirit;  I  have  done  it 
myself,  and  gone  away  and  forgotten  it." 

"  I  don't  understand,"  said  Peter,  humbly. 

"  Why,  have  you  never  promised  the  Lord 
'this  shall  not  be;  thou  sbalt  not  have  it  to 
bear ;  I  will  not  bring  this  reproach  upon  thy 
name  again  ;  I  will  not  grieve  thy  spirit  any 
more  ; '  and  before  the  day  and  perhaps  the  hour, 
was  past,  have  done  '  that  thing,'  or  worse  than 
that,  again  and  again  ?  " 

Peter  laid  down  the  armful  of  kindlings  he 
had  been  gathering  up  preparatory  to  departing, 
and,  rising  to  his  feet,  ?;tood  looking  at  Faith 
with  earnest,  searching  eyes.  "  I  see,"  he  said, 
at  last.  "  Why,  yes,  I  understand  you,  but  I 
never  thought  of  it,  never;  but  Peter  didn't 
mean  that  way  though ;  it  wasn't  respectful 
in  him." 

"  I  know  it ;  I  am  not  excusing  Peter ;  I 
think  he  repented  bitterly,  but  I  was  thinking 
of  myself  as  being  led  through  different  steps 
into  a  like  boastf  -Iness  of  faith  and  devotion." 


'208  Household  Puzzle*. 

"I  see,"  Peter  said  again.  "There's  two 
ways  of  reading  that  story ;  one  way  is  to 
find  fault  with  Peter  who  is  in  heaven  and  out  of 
all  the  fuss  and  trouble  forever,  and  another  way 
is  to  measure  my  own  heart  by  it  and  see 
whether  it  will  stand  looking  into.  I  Under 
stood  about  the  faults  of  Peter,  ma'am,  but  I 
never  thought  anything  about  the  other  part 
until  this  minute,  and  I  am  truly  obliged  to 

votl." 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


OPPOSING  ELEMENTS. 

is  the  merest  act  of  commonplace  cour 
tesy,"  Mrs.  Muuroe  said ;  and  she  spoke 
authoritative!}7.  She  stood  in  the  kitchen 
doorway ;  time — a  warm  spring  day  among 
the  closing  ones  of  May.  It  was  eleven 
o'clock,  and  Maria  was  in  full  tide  of  preparation 
for  the  noon-day  dinner,  her  sleeves  tucked 
above  her  elbows,  a  large  calico  apron  covering 
her  neat  calico  dress,  and  she  pared  potatoes 
with  an  energy  that  betokened  a  perturbed  state 
of  mind.  Her  cheeks  were  red,  too,  but  that 
might  have  been  from  the  fire,  for  the  kitchen 
was  insufferably  hot.  Mrs.  Munroe  lifted  her 
straw  hat  from  her  shapely  head  and  fanned 
herself  leisurely  while  she  talked.  Her  dinner 
hour  was  one,  and  the  dinner  itself  was  in  the 
hands  of  Becky  —  a  pattern  cook,  who  had  Jrv«jd 

209 


210  Household  Puzzles. 

in  some  of  the  Munroe  families  since  babyhood 
So  Mrs.  Munroe,  in  her  blue  and  white  plaid 
wrapper,  with  linen  cuffs  and  small  standing 
collar,  fastened  with  the  spray  of  lava  which 
was  one  of  her  husband's  gifts,  looked  the  pic 
ture  of  refinement  and  leisure.  She  continued 
her  sentence,  unmindful  of  the  glow  on  Maria's 
cheeks :  "  I  don't  see  how  you  can  avoid  it. 
Everybody  does  such  things." 

"  But  I  tell  you,  Helen,  we  have  got  to  avoid 
it.  We  haven't  the  money  to  waste  in  any  such 
senseless  way." 

"Senseless!  You  are  very  sweeping  in  your 
condemnations.  If  you  live  in  the  world  you 
must  act  like  other  people  a  little,  even  if  you 
do  feel  yourself  superior  to  them ;  and  that  has 
always  been  your  trouble  —  having  too  high  an 
estimate  of  }~ourself.  As  to  money,  that  is  non 
sense  !  How  much  will  it  cost,  I  wonder,  to  have 
half  a  dozen  friends  to  take  tea  with  you?  You 
needn't  make  a  great  flourish.  In  fact,  it  would 
be  in  bad  taste  for  persons  in  your  circumstances 
to  do  so;  but  a  few  intimate  friends.  I'm  sure 
I  don't  see  how  you  are  to  avoid  it,  unless  you 
girls  mean  to  decline  all  invitations  for  your 
selves.  While  poor  mother  was  living  she  was 
BO  much  of  an  invalid,  that  people  didn't  expect 
to  be  invited  here,  and  of  course  they  didn't 
expect  it  while  we  were  in  mourning;  but  now 
it  is  different." 


Opposing  Elements.  211 

Maria  splashed  the  potatoes  about  in  the 
rinsing  water  with  such  energy  as  to  give  her 
apron  a  shower  bath,  and  spoke  with  unusual 
sharpness. 

"  I  wonder,  Helen,  if  getting  married  has 
destroyed  all  the  common  sense  you  ever  pos 
sessed.  You  know  that  mother  was  never  so 
much  of  an  invalid  but  that  she  would  have 
enjoyed  company  if  we  had  been  able  to  afford 
it,  but  we  weren't,  and  we  aren't  now." 

"  Well,  don't  talk  so  loud.  How  you  do  fly 
into  a  passion  over  every  trifle.  That  is  a  very 
unlady-like  trait.  You  ought  to  break  yourself 
of  it  before  you  are  older.  I  wonder  how  yoa 
came  to  be  so  mercenary,  Maria  ?  I'm  sure  there 
are  other  things  ot  importance  as  well  as  money. 
You  talk  as  if  that  was  the  only  thing  worth 
any  consideration." 

"  I  have  to  consider  how  to  get  along  without 
it  so  constantly,  that  it  is  no  wonder  it  is  often 
in  my  thoughts."  Something  had  calmed  Maria. 
She  spoke  more  in  her  usual  tone  of  cool  indif 
ference. 

"I  know,"  said  Mrs.  Munroe,  thoughtfully. 
"You  have  had  a  hard  time  of  it,  and  1  thin* 
you  have  managed  very  well,  considering  yorr 
age  ;  but  I  should  think  things  must  be  very 
much  better  with  you  now.  Tom  receiving  a 
salary,  and  Ermina  working  in  that  horrid  shop 


212  Household  Puzzles. 

— but  they  give  her  very  fair  wages — and  Faith 
pays  a  good  price  for  her  board.  There's  con 
siderable  coining  in." 

"And  considerable  going  out,"  said  Maria  ad 
she  lauded  the  wire  full  of  potatoes  into  the 
bubbling  kettle.  "  There  are  old  bills  to  pay, 
and  Ermiua  has  undertaken  to  help  pay  them. 
Father's  quarter's  salary  won't  begin  to  do  it; 
and  we  were  out  of  everything  under  the  sur», 
from  flour  to  brooms,  to  say  nothing  of  clothes. 
There  are  ways  enough  for  the  money,  I  cai> 
assure  you." 

"  But  for  all  that,"  said  Mrs.  Munroe,  going 
back  persistently  to  her  first  idea,  as  such  natures 
do,  "/think  you  ought  to  give  a  little  company 
Of  course  I  don't  speak  for  myself,  although  it 
is  common  for  brides  to  be  invited  to  their  former 
homes  for  entertainment,  and  I  presume  Horace's 
folks  think  it  strange  that  we  are  not ;  but  1 
could  get  along  without  it  —  only  there  is  Faith, 
coming  here  a  stranger,  our  cousin,  and  it  is  so 
singular  not  to  pay  her  any  attention;  besides, 
you  girls  owe  it  to  yourselves.  What  society 
will  you  have  if  you  ignore  its  claims  upon  you 
as  we  have  been  doing  ?  " 

"  The  claims  of  society  are  a  humbug,"  said 
Maria,  basting  her  roast  beef  until  its  savory 
odor  filled  the  kitchen.  "  I  always  tliougnt  so. 
Here  we,  as  poor  as  mice  —  poorer  for  that  matter 


Opposing  Elements.  213 

—  must  twist  and  turn,  and  scrimp,  and  make 
pourid-cake  and  other  stuff,  and  invite  a  company 
to  jam  into  our  dining-room,  and  make  fun  of 
our  nicked  dishes  and  our  tin  coffee-pot,  so  that 
they  will  invite  us  to  similar  shams  if  they  are 
poor,  or  show  us  how  unutterably  shoddy  our 
efforts  were  if  they  are  rich.  That's  society." 

"  Oh,  well,"  said  Mrs.  Munroe,  fanning  herself 
with  more  energy,  "you  can't  have  the  millen 
nium  come  right  away,  even  if  you  want  it ;  and 
I  get  along  very  well  with  the  world  as  it  is. 
It  is  nonsense  in  you  to  talk  about  a  jam.  Your 
dining-room  is  large,  I'm  sure,  and  its  very  re 
spectably  furnished,  and  a  few  friends  to  tea 
would  be  very  pleasant.  You  could  have  spoons 
and  napkins  and  such  things  from  my  house, 
and  Becky  to  help  you.  She  would  show  you 
just  how  to  do  everything ;  and  as  to  the  silver, 
why,  you  could  have  my  coffee-urn  and  cake- 
baskets." 

"I  should  never  do  it  in  the  world,"  sputtered 
Maria.  "If  we  were  foolish  enough,  in  our  cir 
cumstances,  to  give  a  tea  party,  I  would  insist 
upon  its  being. according  to  our  circumstances, 
and  not  yours.  I'll  serve  no  coffee  from  bor 
rowed  urns,  you  may  be  sure  of  that.  Spoons 
and  napkins  are  bad  enough,  but  they  are  com 
mon  necessities." 

"  That's  pride,"  said  Mrs.  Munroe,  compla 
cently. 


214  Household  Puzzles. 

It  was  not  this  conversation,  nor  a  dozen 
others  like,  held  when  the  combined  forces  were 
gathered,  for  both  Ermina  and  Grace  took  ear 
nest  bides  with  Maria,  that  finally  settled  the 
question  of  company.  It  was  Mr.  Randolph  re 
turning,  after  he  had  started  for  the  office,  to 
say,  in  hesitating  tones,  to  Maria,  who  occupied 
the  dining-room  alone, — 

"  Could  you  manage  a  little  company  to  tea, 
Maria  ?  Helen  and  Horace,  and  a  few  of  their 
friends.  Helen  feels  as  if  her  new  family  re 
lations  ought  to  be  recognized,  I  presume. 
Could  you  bring  it  about,  daughter?  " 

"  Why,  yes,  sir,"  Maria  said,  speaking  slowly 
and  hesitatingly,  with  a  glow  on  each  cheek. 
Helen  married  was  worse  than  Helen  at  home 
among  them.  tl  We  can,  if  you  think  best,  but 
we  don't  consider  it  at  all  necessary  ;  and,  father, 
having  company  is  rather  expensive  business." 

Mr.  Randolph  winced,  as  he  always  did  when 
finance  was  the  subject  of  conversation.  Poor 
man,  there  was  nothing  he  would  have  liked 
better  than  a  fortune  —  unless,  indeed,  it  were  to 
be  at  rest  somewhere,  where  money  was  never 
mentioned.  Mr.  Randolph's  tastes,  like  his 
daughter  Helen's,  were  royal." 

"Never  mind,"  he  said,  hurriedly.  "A  few 
shillings  more  or  less  can  not  make  much  dif 
ference  in  the  end.  I  would  not  try  to  do  muck 


Opposing  Elements.  215 

Something  very  simple,  and  within  our  means. 
People  know  we  are  poor.  They  must  take  the 
will  for  the  deed.  I  do  not  like  to  hurt  Helen's 
feelings  by  passing  her  new  connection  over  en 
tirely.  You  will  manage  it  right,  daughter;  you 
always  do,"  and  then  Mr.  Randolph  went  away, 
leaving  Maria  the  picture  of  dismay.  She  had 
not  meant  to  yield  this  point.  She  knew  "  they  " 
were  in  the  habit  of  making  company  for  a 
married  daughter,  but  she  was  personally  very 
indifferent  to  "  them,"  and  she  had  reckoned 
on  battling  the  matter  out  with  Helen.  She 
had  not  counted  on  the  half  dozen  words  that 
Mrs.  Monroe  let  drop  sadly  in  her  father's  hear 
ing,  "  If  mother  were  here,  Horace,  your  mother 
and  father  would  be  cordially  welcomed  to  this 
house.  We  miss  mother  in  everything." 

So  the  cake  making  and  the  discussions  com 
menced  again.  Maria  having  yielded  against  her 
will,  did  it  with  a  very  ill  grace,  and  made  her 
self  extra  trouble,  as  angry  people  are  apt  to  do. 
Three  several  afternoons  did  Becky  present  her 
self,  her  hair  done  in  the  neatest  little  knot 
imaginable,  her  apron  large  and  clean,  and 
announced  herself  ready  to  make  cake,  or  do 
"  anything  that  Miss  Maria  wanted  of  her." 
Miss  Maria  wanted  nothing.  Not  an  egg  would 
she  let  Becky  beat,  not  a  raisin  was  she  allowed 
to  touch.  Mrs.  Munroe  came  over  and  stood  in 


216  Household  Puzzle*. 

the  kitchen  door,  in  cool,  summery  toilet,  and 
fanned  herself,  while  she  told  Maria  that  she  was 
certainly  very  silly ;  Becky  knew  how  to  do 
everything  much  better  than  she  did  ;  and  that 
she  (Mrs.  Munroe)  had  put  herself  out,  in  order 
to  let  Becky  help  over  here. 

"Put  yourself  in  again,''  said  ungrateful  Ma 
ria,  "  as  soon  as  3*011  choose.  We  have  lived 
thus  far  without  any  of  Becky's  assistance,  and 
we  shall  continue,  for  a  little  while." 

"But  you  are  not  accustomed  to  entertaining 
company,"  persisted  the  eldest  sister  ;  "  and  you 
are  nothing  but  a  young  girl.  Now,  she  knows 
how  '  they '  arrange  everything.  She  has  as 
sisted  some  of  the  very  first  fumilies  in  town." 

"  Did  you  ever  hear  of  the  man  who  told  his 
transient  boarder  that  if  she  couldn't  stand,  in 
the  eating  line,  for  one  week,  what  he  had  to 
endure  all  his  life,  it  was  a  pity?  I  might  say 
the  same  to  my  guests.  I  am  sure  I  have  done 
the  cooking  for  you  ever  since  I  could  talk, 
nearly,  and  you  are  still  alive.  We'll  venture  it 
one  night  longer."  This  was  all  the  reply  that 
the  inexorable  Maria  had  to  make,  and  she 
burned  her  cheeks  and  her  finger,  and  made  all 
the  cake  herself.  Delicious  cake  it  was,  too. 
She  had  that  accomplishment,  I  think  no  one 
who  has  ever  attempted  to  compound  the  de 
praved  stuff  will  deny.  There  were  other  things 


Opposing  Elements.  217 

about  which  she  obstinately  insisted  on  her  own 
way. 

"  How  on  earth  came  you  to  think  of  inviting 
Nettie  Thatcher  ?  "  was  Mrs.  Munroe's  exclama 
tion  on  one  of  the  aforesaid  afternoons. 

"  It  wasn't  a  very  hard  thing  to  think  of,' 
Maria  said,  composedly.     "I've  performed  more 
severe  mental  labor  than  that  many  a  time." 

"  Don't  for  pity's  sake  try  to  be  funny,  Maria; 
it  is  too  warm  for  that.  But  what  possesses  you 
to  think  you  must  mix  people  up  so  ?  " 

"I'm  not  mixing  them  up.  It  is  entirely  your 
work.  If  I  could  have  had  my  own  way  I 
should  have  left  them  all  in  peace  and  quietness, 
to  get  their  suppers  at  their  usual  hours,  instead 
of  coming  here  and  waiting  for  it  until  bedtime. 
But  since  it  had  to  be  done,  I  thought  Nettie 
might  as  well  wait  as  the  rest  of  you." 

"  Well,  I  thought  you  had  more  sense  than 
that.  She  never  expects  to  be  invited  in  our  set. 
You  certainly  couldn't  havt  thought  that  you 
would  hurt  her  feelings  by  leaving  her  out,  foi 
no  one  invites  her  ?  " 

"Why  don't  they?" 

"  Well,  for  several  reasons.  In  the  first  place, 
she  doesn't  belong,  as  I  said,  to  our  set  in  so 
ciety." 

"  Why  doesn't  she  ?  " 

"  How  do  /know  V  I  don't  suppose  she  has  \ 
suitable  thing  to  wear." 


218  Household  Puzzles. 

"That's  her  concern,  not  mine.  I  don't  have 
to  clothe  the  people,  only  to  feed  them,  for  that 
matter.  I've  heard  you  make  the  same  remark 
about  yourself  many  a  time,  yet  you  didn't  con 
sider  it  a  reason  why  people  should  ignore  your 
acquaintance." 

Mrs.  Munroe  laughed  complacently.  It  was  a 
source  of  unceasing  comfort  to  her  that  she 
would  never  be  obliged  to  make  that  remark 
again.  Then  she  turned  to  the  charge. 

"  What  is  the  use  of  talking  this  nonsense.  I 
insist  that  there  is  no  sense  in  your  thinking 
of  inviting  Nettie  Thatcher.  She  is  not  in  our 
circle  of  society,  and  we  can't  put  her  in." 

"  She  is  a  member  of  the  same  church  with 
yourself,  Helen." 

"  Oh,  well,  now,  that  has  nothing  to  do  with 
the  subject.  People  may  talk  about  equality 
and  all  that  sort  of  thing  to  the  end  of  time,  and 
there  will  still  be  classes,  or  grades,  or  sets,  or 
whatever  you  please  to  call  them." 

"But  what  shall  make  them,  Helen  —  educa 
tion,  or  worth,  or  money  ?  For  instance,  Nettie 
Thatcher  is  a  good-principled,  noble-hearted  girl, 
with  a  very  fair  education,  as  good  as  yours  or 
mine  certainly,  and  she  is  refined  and  gentle  in 
her  manners.  The  entire  difficulty  lies  in  tha 
fact  that  she  works  in  a  mill.  Now,  what  com 
mon  sense  is  there  in  that  ?  " 


Opposing  Elements.  219 

Mrs.  Munroe  sniffed  energetically,  and  her 
reply  was  very  much  to  the  point. 

•'•You  are  burning  that  cake,  Maria;  I  smell 
it.  Scorched  cake  is  horrid  stuff.  Becky  never 
has  the  least  bit  of  burn  on  hers.  What  a  sim 
pleton  you  are  not  to  let  her  help  you!  Some 
thing  horrid  will  happen,  just  because  of  your 
obst/.nacy.  I  expect  to  fairly  die  of  mortifica 
tion." 

"  In  that  case,  your  troubles,  so  far  as  my 
cake  is  concerned,  will  certainly  be  over,"  Maria 
said,  composedly. 

"  Well,  at  least  I  hope  you  won't  insist  on 
mortifying  Nettie  Thatcher  with  an  invitation 
which  she  won't  know  what  to  do  with.  You 
can't  make  the  world  over,  and  it  isn't  worth 
while  to  try.  Nettie  seems  well  enough  satis 
fied  with  her  own  sphere.  Don't  mix  things  " 

Maria  closed  the  oven  door  with  a  bang. 

"  It's  of  no  sort  of  use  to  hold  an  argument 
with  you,"  she  said,  hotly.  "  You  would  dance 
around  in  a  bandbox  all  day,  and  never  discover 
that  the  bottom  was  out ;  but  you  can  compose 
your  mind  on  one  point.  Nettie  Thatcher  has 
been  invited,  and  has  accepted  the  invitation." 

Mrs.  Munroe's  cheeks  reddened  angrily. 

"•  Then  all  I  have  to  say  is,"  and  she  said  it  in 
a  somewhat  high  key,  "  I  think  you  are  a  very 
headstrong,  obstinate  girl,  and  you  take  a  great 


220  Household  Puzzles, 

deal  on  yourself  for  one  of  your  age.  I  am  sure  I 
don't  see  why  Erurina  don't  control  you  bottei. 
I  would  rather  not  have  any  company  than  to 
have  people  who  never  saw  each  other  before, 
mid  never  will  again,  sit  stiffly  around  trying  to 
make  talk,  when  they  have  nothing  in  common. 
I  wonder  what  Mr.  Harper  will  think  of  such 
a  company.  I  guess  he  will  wonder  where  you 
picked  up  Nettie  Thatcher." 

"  I  will  clear  out  a  clothes-press  for  the  gen 
tleman,  if  you  think  he  can  not  breathe  the 
same  air  that  Nettie  does  for  one  evening,"  Ma 
ria  said,  now  thoroughly  exasperated ;  and  her 
sister  gathered  herself  up  in  wrath  and  went 
home,  leaving  the  kitchen  in  outward  peace  for 
the  rest  of  the  day. 

There  was  one  redeeming  feature  of  Mrs. 
Munroe's  character.  She  never  stayed  angry. 
The  next  morning's  sun  found  her  as  peaceably 
disposed  toward  the  family  across  the  way,  and 
as  ready  to  aid  them  as  ever.  She  came  over 
iust  before  the  dinner  hour.  She  had  a  new 

* 

scheme,  which  she  brought  before  Ermina,  who 
was  slicing  cold  meat  for  the  hurried  dinner; 
for  it  was  the  clay  of  the  coming  entertainment. 

"  Dinners  are  of  no  account  in  this  house  to 
day,"  ac  she  shaved  the  great  pinky  slices.  "  It 
is  the  supper  toward  which  our  stomachs  are 
eagerly  looking.  This  is  simply  to  stay  them 
until  seven  o'clock." 


Opposing  Elements.  221 

Mrs.  Munroe,  thus  remindeo^of  the  tardiness 
of  her  plans,  came  to  the  point  at  once. 

"  1  wish  we  could  have  a  little  currant  wine 
to  serve  with  the  cake  this  evening." 

Errnina,  in  her  astonishment,  forgot  the  ma 
tronly  name,  and  exclaimed, — 

"  Why,  Helen  Randolph !  " 

'*  Well,  I  do,"  said  Mrs.  Munroe,  firmly.  "  It 
is  simple,  and  at  the  same  time  elegant.  They 
have  it  at  a  great  many  little  parties  where 
other  liquors  are  considered  objectionable ;  and 
your  cake  is  so  ridiculously  plain  you  need  some 
thing  to  set  it  off.  You  humor  Maria  so,  in 
all  of  her  whims,  I  wonder  at  you," 

Ermina  laughed.  "  It  is  she  who  humors  me 
in  mine,  when  she  occasionally  allows  me  to 
have  my  own  way,"  she  said,  good-humoredly. 
"  But  I  consider  it  no  more  than  fair  that  the 
one  who  does  all  the  work  should  do  some  of  the 
managing.  As  to  currant  wine,  you  might  as 
well  propose  a  glass  of  prussic  acid  all  around. 
You  seem  to  have  forgotten  father's  opinions?" 

"  Oh,  father !  I  could  coax  him  over  to  my 
side  in  less  than  five  minutes.  I  really  think 
you  ought  to  have  something  of  the  kind,  and 
that  is  so  simple  that  the  most  morbid  temper 
ance  people  use  it.  City  people  don't  look  at 
these  things  as  we  do,  anyway  —  in  large  cities, 
I  mean.  Mr.  Harper  now  is  a  temperance  man, 


22  Household  Puzzles. 

quite  an  earnest  one,  I've  heard,  and  I've  no 
doubt  that  he  would  think  father's  ideas  ridicu 
lously  narrow  and  strait  laced.  We  have  some 
splendid  currant  wine  that  Horace's  mother 
made  two  years  ago.  It  was  Horace's  idea  to 
offer  it  here  this  evening.  He  thinks  it  will 
make  things  more  free  and  easy.  If  it  were  not 
for  Maria  we  might  bring  it  over  quietly,  and 
serve  it  without  saying  anything  to  father  ;  but 
I  suppose  she  would  make  an  outrageous  fuss." 

"  If  it  were  not  for  Maria,  and  Ennina,  and 
all  the  rest  of  us,  you  would  better  say.  That 
will  never  be  done  in  this  house,  I  assure  you. 
You  are  welcome  to  get  father's  consent  if  you 
can,  though  I  think  he  has  trouble  enough  with 
out  bothering  his  brains  about  such  things;  but 
everything  that  has  to  do  with  him  shall  be  fair 
and  square  —  no  slipping  in  and  doing  things 
quietly.  I  won't  consent  to  it." 

"  No  one  thought  of  asking  you  to.  You  are 
as  bad  as  Maria.  I'm  not  afraid  but  that  I 
could  get  father's  consent  to  it  in  two  minutes." 

"Very  well,"  said  Ermina,  composedly.  "Try 
it,  and  I  wish  you  joy  in  the  undertaking.  He 
is  coming.  You  will  have  an  opportunity  to 
vanquish  him  before  dinner  if  it  is  only  to  take 
two  minutes." 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

THE  FOKCE  OF  ARGUMENT. 

ATHER,"  said  Mrs.  Munroe,  turning  to 
meet  the  weary,  sallow-faced  man,  "  you 
don't  look  as  well  as  usual  to-day.  Are 
you  feeling  badly?" 

"No  worse  than  usual,  Helen,"  ha 
said,  trying  to  smile  cheerily.  "  I  haven't  much 
to  boast  of  in  the  way  of  strength." 

"  I  think  you  need  a  tonic  of  some  kind. 
Horace's  father  has  been  real  miserable  for  sev 
eral  days,  and  Dr.  Marvin  ordered  wine  bitters 
for  him.  He  thinks  they  are  helping  him.  1 
wish  you  would  try  currant  wine,  father ;  that 
is  harmless  enough,  and  it  is  real  strengthening. 
I'm  going  to  bring  some  over  to-night  for  the 
company,  and  I  want  you  to  try  it.  Will  you  ?  " 
From  the  time  of  her  earliest  recollection  her 
father  had  worn  to  Helen  Munroe  the  same 

223 


224  Household  Puzzles. 

kind,  patient,  tender  face ;  easily  moved,  easily 
coaxed,  apparently;  one  of  those  men  whom 
nature:)  like  Ermina's  and  Maria's  shrank  from 
wounding  or  jarring  in  anyway :  hence  his  wish 
hud  grown  into  being  their  laws  one  of  those 
men  whom  natures  like  Helen's  wheedled  into 
doing  dozens  of  things  which  he  did  not  want  to 
do  —  to  which  his  higher  nature  objected  — 
simply  because  he  shrank  morbidly  from  argu 
ment,  from  strife,  from  scenes  of  any  sort.  Very 
rarely  had  Mrs.  Munroe  seen  him  either  excited 
or  determined.  She  did  not  understand  her 
father.  He  turned  toward  her  now,  a  bright 
red  spot  burning  on  the  sallow  cheek,  and  his 
voice  was  slow  and  low : 

"  Helen,  it  is  very  seldom  that  I  assert  my 
decided  views  in  regard  to  things.  It  is  very 
seldom,  indeed,  that  I  issue  any  commands:  but 
I  thought  my  children  understood  my  position 
in  this  matter.  There  can  no  currant  wine  ever 
be  served  in  my  house  to  guests  of  mine.  Don't 
forget  it."  Then  he  turned  and  went  with 
quick,  trembling  steps  out  of  the  room. 

"  There !  "  said  Ermina,  angrily.  "  I  hope 
you  will  enjoy  your  dinner ;  you  have  spoiled 
father's.  Do  go  home." 

And  Mrs.  Munroe  immediately  went. 

"  You  will  have  to  give  up  your  currant  wine 
plans,"  she  said  to  her  husband  when  they  met 


The  Force  of  Argument.  225 

at  their  late  dinner.  u  Father  is  really  fierce 
about  it.  He  actually  frightened  me."  Then 
she  told  him  her  attempt  and  its  result. 

Mr.  Horace  Munroe  laughed.  That  thin,  pale 
old  man,  old  before  his  time,  with  not  business 
capacity  enough  to  have  risen  even  yet  above 
clerkship,  "with  not  mental  power  enough  to  care 
to  converse  for  half  an  hour  with  anybody  —  the 
idea  of  being  cowed  by  him,  or  of  not  doing  as 
one  liked  in  spite  of  him !  He  did  not  say  all 
this  to  his  wife;  he  did  not  say  a  word  of  it. 
He  was  learning  Mrs.  Munroe's  nature.  There 
were  things  that  it  would  not  bear.  She  could 
get  thoroughly  exasperated  with  her  sisters. 
She  could  feel  at  times  utter  contempt  for  he* 
brother  Tom.  She  could  even  lose  patience 
with  her  father;  but  woe  to  the  foolish  being 
who  dared  to  sympathize  with  these  feelings ! 
To  be  out  of  sorts  with  her  own  flesh  and  blood 
was  one  thing,  to  allow  any  one  else  to  do  so 
was  utterly  another.  Mr.  Munroe  was  wiser, 
therefore  he  kept  all  his  thoughts  to  himself, 
and  laughed,  and  said, — 

"  Well,  their  loss  is  our  gain.  Never  mind," 
and  then  dismissed  the  subject. 

Very  early  in  the  evening  Mrs.  Muuroe  crossed 

again  to  her  father's  house,  ready  dressed  for 

the   reception    which   she    had    gotten    up    for 

herself.     She  was  dressed  in  the  much-talked- 

15 


226  Household  Puzzles. 

over  lavender  silk,  with  its  elaborate  trimmings 
and  elegant  laces.  She  felt  called  upon  to 
apologize  to  Errnina's  stare  of  astonishment. 

'*  You  know  I  am  a  bride,  Eimina,  and  they 
always  expect  brides  to  dress  a  good  deal  the 
first  few  times  they  go  out  in  company." 

"I'm  glad  there's  no  prospect  of  my  being  a 
bride,"  Ermina  said,  coldly.  "  '  They  '  seem  to 
expect  them  to  be  guilty  of  all  sorts  of  absurd 
and  preposterous  things.  What  are  you  going 
to  wear  to  parties,  Helen  ?  " 

"  I  really  don't  believe  you  ever  will  be  one, 
Ermina.  You  are  altogether  too  blunt  and 
sharp."  The  question  she  ignored. 

Ermina  laughed. 

"Both  blunt  and  sharp.  I  should  think  I 
might  be  about  right  then,  as  they  are  both 
extremes.  But  I  don't  know  that  you  are  any 
sillier  than  I  am.  I  expect  to  swelter  in  this 
gray  dress;  but  I  must  wear  it,  because  it  cost  a 
dollar  a  yard,  and  my  comfortable  one  was  only 
twenty  cents.  We  are  all  fools  together.  That's 
the  conclusion  that  Peter  Armstrong  has  arrived 
at,  and  I  agree  with  him." 

This  suggested  a  new  trouble  to  Mrs.  Munroe. 

"  What  have  you  done  with  Peter  ? "  she 
asked,  anxiously. 

"  Done  with  him  ?  Ironed  his  best  shirt  to 
the  last  degree  of  smoothness,  and  cut  the  fringes 


The  Furce  of  Argument.  227 

off  his  cuffs,  and  made  a  new  bow  to  bis  necktie. 
He  is  in  very  good  order  for  the  occasion,  I 
assure  you." 

Mrs.  Munroe  stood  aghast. 

"  He  isnt  going  to  be  bere  witb  tbe  company? 
Now,  is  he?" 

"  Why,  of  course  he  is.  Jsn't  he  one  of  the 
boarders,  and  hasn't  he  as  good  a  right  to  his 
supper  as  any  of  us  ?  " 

Mrs.  Munroe  sat  down  in  the  nearest  chair,  in 
speechless  indignation. 

*'  I  never  saw  such  works  !  "  she  managed  to 
say  at  last.  "  You  are  quite  as  wild  as  Maria. 
Why,  I  used  to  think  that  you  had  common 
sense.  The  idea  of  Peter  Armstrong  being  at  a 
tea  party !  He  never  knows  what  to  do  with 
his  feet  nor  his  hands." 

"  His  feet  are  all  right  this  time.  He  has 
made  them  shine  beautifully;  and  as  for  his 
hands,  no  doubt  he  will  make  them  useful  —  he 
generally  does.  Dorit  fret  about  things,  Helen. 
Tm  Miss  Randolph,  you  know ;  your  responsi 
bility  in  this  family  has  ceased." 

"  That  is  very  evident,"  Mrs.  Munroe  said, 
tartly. 

Then  both  ladies  went  in  search  of  Maria. 
They  found  her  in  the  dining-room,  busy  over 
the  table,  which  was  fragrant  with  flowers  and 
leaves. 


228  Household  Puzzles. 

"This  table  really  looks  very  pretty,"  Mrs. 
Munroe  said.  "Who  arranged  it?  It  must  be 
Grace's  work.  She  has  the  most  tasteful  hands 
of  any  of  you.  Why,  Maria  Randolph  !  " 

"  At  your  service,  ma'am.  What  can  I  do  for 
you  ?  " 

"I  should  thinly  it  was  quite  time  you  were 
dressed  for  the  evening." 

"Dressed!  Hear  the  woman  I  and  I've  been 
prinking  for  the  last  hour." 

"  And  arrayed  yourself  in  a  calico  dress  at 
last!" 

"  English  cambric,  ma'am ;  cost  twenty-five 
cents  a  yard,  and  cheap  as  dirt  at  that.  I  have 
the  clerk's  word  for  it." 

"  Maria,  what  is  the  use  of  being  so  disagreea 
ble?  I'm  sure  I  don't  like  to  do  things  to 
mortify  you.  Why  should  you  care  to  treat  me 
BO?" 

Maria  turned  toward  her  in  genuine  astonish 
ment. 

"I  hadn't  such  an  idea,  Helen,"  she  said,  ear 
nestly.  "I  didn't  think  it  would  make  any 
difference  to  you  what  I  wore.  In  fact  I  didn't 
think  about  you  at  all ;  and  I  had  several  reasons 
for  choosing  this  dress.  In  the  first  place  my 
poplin  is  insufferably  hot —  warm  doesn't  express 
it — and,  besides,  it's  too  long  for  table  serving. 
Then  I  remembered  what  you  said  about  morti- 


The  Force  of  Argument.  229 

fying  Nettie  Thatcher,  and  I  determined  that  I 
wouldn't  mortify  her  by  appearing  better  dressed 
than  she  might  be." 

44  You  are  very  considerate,"  Mrs.  Munroe 
said,  coldly,  turning  away  as  she  spoke.  But 
she  said  no  more  against  the  pretty  cambric 
dress. 

The  guests  began  to  assemble,  few  in  number, 
and,  for  the  most  part  a  choice  selection.  Mrs. 
Horace  Munroe  was  conspicuous  in  her  lavender 
silk,  even  her  mother-in-law  wearing  a  plain 
black  one;  but  she  drew  consolation  from  the 
thought  that  she  was  a  bride,  and  was  expected 
to  be  conspicuous.  Not  the  least  interesting 
among  the  young  faces  was  that  of  Nettie 
Thatcher.  Her  dress,  too,  was  certainly  unob 
jectionable.  It  was  one  of  those  soft,  still  grays, 
of  a  material  so  vague  that  even  Mrs.  Muuroe's 
practiced  eye  failed  to  determine  to  what  class  it 
belonged,  nor  how  much  it  mr_>ht  possibly  have 
cost  a  yard.  Her  ornaments  were  rare  and 
exquisite  enough  ;  they  were  small,  blue  wild- 
wood  flowers.  Mrs.  Munroe,  standing  near  her, 
moved  dexterously  forward  as  Mr.  Harper  en 
tered,  and  her  voluminous  skirts  and  ruffles  and 
puffs  served  to  hide  the  quiet  little  wildwood 
flower  beh-md  her.  "  There  is  no  necessity  for 
performing  conspicuous  and  disagreeable  intro 
ductions,"  she  said,  in  undertone,  to  Grace  who 


230  Household  Puzzles. 

sought  her  shelter.  "  He  will  not  know  there  is 
any  one  behind  me.  He  is  fastidious  in  hia 
tastes,  and  extremely  inconvenient  in  his  ques 
tionings."  He  came  very  soon  to  her  corner 
and  greeted  her  with  a  cordial  shake  of  the 
hand,  and  almost  his  second  sentence  was, — 

"  Whom  are  you  hiding  behind  you,  Mrs. 
Munroe  ? "  Then,  as  his  eye  caught  a  view 
of  her,  "  Ah,  Miss  Nettie !  "  he  said,  and  there 
was  unmistakable  pleasure  in  his  voice.  Imme 
diately  he  held  out  his  hand  to  her,  and  Mrs. 
Munroe  had  the  pleasure  of  hearing  their  conver 
sation:  "I  haven't  seen  you  in  an  age,  Nettie." 

"Not  since  Saturday  evening." 

Mr.  Harper  laughed. 

"  Was  it  so  recent  as  that  ?  Well,  it  seems 
longer.  How  are  matters  progressing?" 

"  Very  smoothly,  so  far  as  I  can  learn." 

"  How  does  it  happen  that  you  have  been  be 
guiled  out  of  your  retirement?  " 

"  It  doesn't  take  much  to  beguile  me,  when 
people  give  me  a  chance  to  come."  Her  laugh 
was  low  and  sweet. 

"  Who  gave  you  the  chance  ?  Was  it  Miss 
Randolph's  invitation  ?  " 

"No;  Maria's." 

"  Oh,  I  don't  think  I  know  her." 

"  Don't  you  ?  Come  with  me,  then,  and  we'll 
find  her." 


The  Force  of  Argument.  231 

And  immediately  the  soft  gray  dress  was 
shaken  out,  and  Nettie  Thatcher  crossed  the 
room  with  the  only  very  distinguished  guest  they 
had. 

This  Mr.  Harper,  about  whom  so  much  has 
been  hinted,  deserves  a  more  extended  mention. 
He  was  not  a  resident  of  the  little  city  where  the 
Randolphs  lived.  In  fact,  he  was  the  junior 
partner  of  one  of  those  mammoth  firms  in  New 
York.  He  had  charge  of  the  foreign  branch  es 
tablishment,  and  lived  abroad.  He  was  spending 
a  year  at  home  —  that  is,  in  this  country  —  send 
ing  out  one  of  the  confidential  clerks  of  the  firm 
to  take  his  place,  while  he  attended  to  various 
outside  business  matters.  And  ever  and  anon  he 
came  back  to  the  old  homestead,  situated  in  this 
little  city,  spending  days,  and  sometimes  weeks, 
with  an  old  aunt,  the  sole  remaining  branch  of  the 
old  family  tree,  and  the  only  mother  he  had  ever 
known.  Great  was  the  estimation  in  which  he 
was  held  in  the  city.  Thus  much  about  him. 
What  sort  of  a  man  was  hidden  behind  all  this 
external  of  wealth  and  importance  you  may  dis 
cover  for  yourselves  as  chance  makes  you  ac 
quainted  with  him.  Later  in  the  evening  he 
stood  beside  Ermina. 

"  You  are  looking  weary,"  he  said,  bending  a 
little  and  speaking  in  a  low  tone. 

"  Am  I  ?  "  she  said,  gravely.     "  That  is  an  un- 


232  Household  Puzzles. 

pardonable  offense.  As  hostess  I  ought  to  look 
as  fresh  as  a  June  morning,  no  matter  if  I  have 
been  on  my  feet  since  daylight;  but  I  cant. 
Even  my  looks  refuse  to  be  hypocritical." 

"•  Have  you  schooled  them  not  to  be  ? "  he 
•isked,  earnestly. 

"  Not  I.  They  schooled  themselves.  Hypoc- 
visy  was  left  out  of  my  nature.  I  can  plead 
gtilty  to  every  other  sin  in  the  calendar,  but  I 
Vwen't  enough  of  that  to  get  on  comfortably  with 
i^  this  flattery-loving  world." 

v- What  a  pity."  He  said  it  quietly,  and  ap- 
psiently  in  perfect  sincerity. 

Something  prompted  her  to  answer  him  with 
>-qual  gravity. 

"  What  do  you  mean ?     What  is  a  pity?" 

"  Do  you  know  Burns  ?  and  are  you  acquainted 
with  that  honest  bit  of  life  he  wrote,  commencing, 
'  Oh,  wad  some  power  the  giftie  gie  us  ?  '  I  was 
thinking  what  a  pity  it  is  that  he  was  right,  that 
people  know  so  little  about  themselves.'' 

"  Do  you  mean  me  to  make  a  personal  applica 
tion  of  that  remark  ?  " 

"  I  hoped  you  would,"  he  said,  with  a  bright 
smile. 

"  Then  I  should  think  you  meant  that  /  waa 
hypocritical  without  knowing  it." 

"  If  I  mean  just  that,  what  then  ?  " 

"Well,"  said  Ermina,  in  undisguised  astonish- 


TJie  Force  of  Argument.  233 

ment,  "  I  certainly  don't  think  you  are  one.  I  ana 
sufficiently  interested  in  myself,  however,  to  make 
my  acquaintance;  so  if  you  really  mean  just  that, 
will  you  tell  me  how  ?  " 

"  I  beg  your  pardon,"  he  said  gently.  "  I  think 
I  am  presuming  a  great  deal  on  a  first  acquaint 
ance  ;  but  I  have  imagined  you  to  belong  in  a 
measure  to  that  class  of  persons  who  vail  their 
better  selves,  who  hide  their  tender  and  gentle 
and  sympathetic  feelings  under  a  mask  of  cold 
ness  or  brusqeness." 

"  People  are  educated  into  doing  that,"  she  an 
swered  quickly,  "because  there  is  so  much  sham 
tenderness  and  mock  sympathy." 

"  Because  there  is  counterfeit  money  in  circu 
lation,  Miss  Randolph,  you  and  I  must  counter 
feit  some  for  ourselves.  Is  that  it?" 

Ermina  laughed  a  little. 

"  I  believe  I  am  a  poor  logician,"  she  said. 
"But,  Mr.  Harper,  don't  you  think  hypocrisy  is 
the  besetting  sin  of  polite  society  ?  " 

"  One  of  them ;  and  the  want  of  it  is  the  be 
setting  sin  of  some  people  ?  " 

"  What  can  you  mean  ?  It  is  certainly  not  one 
of  the  Christian  virtues  in  any  case." 

"  I  am  not  so  sure  of  that.  There  is  a  kind 
ness  of  spirit,  a  gentleness  of  manner,  a  willing 
ness  to  yield  to  the  feelings  of  others,  that  by 
many  would  be  termed  hypocrisy,  that  to  me  is 


234  Household  Puzzles. 

one  of  the  Christian  graces.  I  have  seen  just 
such  lovely  characters,  and  have  heard  their 
owners  denounced  as  hypocrites,  simply  because 
they  did  not  speak  all  that  they  might  think. 
What  do  you  imagine  Paul  meant  by  becoming 
all  things  to  all  men  ?  " 

"  I  don't  remember  ever  having  given  it  a 
thought." 

"  Haven't  you  ?  It  seems  to  me  that  he  de 
sired  to  cultivate  that  grace  of  sympathizing  with 
other  people's  views  and  feelings,  and  even  whims, 
so  far  as  it  was  possible." 

"  But  don't  you  think  there  is  danger  of  carry 
ing  the  theory  too  far  ?  " 

"  Not  if  we  adopt  the  other  part  of  Paul's  doc 
trine,  *  That  I  might  by  all  means  save  some. 
The  Christian  who  takes  that  as  his  motto,  works 
for  that,  prays  for  it,  will  not  be  likely  to  get  far 
astray  in  regard  to  it." 

"  How  many  people  live  according  to  that 
standard  do  you  imagine  ?  " 

"Let  us  hope  that  many  do;  let  us  be  sure  that 
you  and  /do." 

"  I  am  sure  that  I  do  wof,"  she  said,  emphati 
cally. 

"  But  you  wish  to  ?  " 

"  No,  I  cannot  even  be  said  to  wish  to,  since 
I  have  never  thought  of  the  subject  in  that  light 
before." 


The  Force  of  Argument.  235 

"  You  are  a  Christian,  I  think  ?  " 

"  Why,  I  am  not  even  sure  of  that.  At  least 
not  in  this  hypocritical  sense.  I  am  a  member 
of  the  church,  if  that  is  what  you  mean." 

"  I  do  not  mean  that,"  he  said,  quickly.  "  In 
one  sense  it  matters  very  little  what  I  profess  if 
I  do  not  possess." 

"  Your  talk  about  St.  Paul  reminds  me  of  St. 
Peter,"  she  said,  with  a  sudden  change  of  tone. 
"  We  have  him  here  to-night ;  that  is  he  leaning 
against  the  side  window.  He  don't  know  what  to 
do  with  his  hands  nor  his  feet,  nor  the  rest  of  hia 
body,  for  that  matter.  I  think  I  ought  to  go  over 
and  talk  to  him  —  not  to  carry  out  your  theory, 
however,  for  I  would  rather  have  a  talk  with 
him  than  with  two-thirds  of  our  guests." 

"  Who  is  he  ?  "  asked  Mr.  Harper,  very  much 
amused. 

"  He  is  our  boarder,"  she  answered  him,  with 
sparkling  eyes.  "  Hypocritically,  we  take  him 
because  it  is  convenient  to  have  some  one  to  do 
errands  for  us,  and  because  we  were  sorry  for  the 
poor  boy,  and  wanted  to  give  him  a  pleasant 
home ;  but  honestly,  because  Mr.  Evans,  for 
whom  he  works,  pays  a  fair  price  for  his  board, 
and  we  needed  the  money." 

"  Will  you  take  me  to  see  him  ?  I  have  no 
ticed  his  face;  and  there  are  reasons  why  I  am  in 
terested  in  him." 


230  Household  Puzzle»- 

So  the  next  thing  Mr.  Harper  did  was  to Across 
the  room  to  Peter  Armstrong  and  shake 

Maria's  cake   was  certainly  appreciated    the 
daiotv  little  supper  was  thoroughly  neat  in  a 
o     U  appointments,  and  Maria  herself  was  fe£ 
„„  that  if  it  were  not  for  to-morrow,  and 
Mis,  and  the  folly  of  trying  to  be  hke  wl Mo-do 
people  when  you  were  poor  people, ,  she  would 

/o I,'  len  a  diversion  occurred  at  the  ot  er^ 
Her  brother-in-law.  Mr.  Munroe,  came  f.om  t 
fa trlwith  a  tray  and  glasses,  and  the  glasses 
Ce  glowing  with  wine !     Maria  set  the  spoon- 

^rr\ra"e:1sDoemeo\  us,  at  least  not  this 
evenfng ;  but  this  is  a  very  rare  quahty,  and 

^ 


The  Force  of  Argument.  237 

A  sudden  hush  fell  on  the  guests,  for  Mr.  Ran 
dolph  had  risen  from  his  chair  at  the  other  end 
of  the  room,  and  those  who  were  nearest  him  saw 
that  his  sallow  face  was  very  pale. 

"  There  is  some  mistake,"  he  said,  speaking 
steadily  and  in  a  voice  sufficiently  clear  to  be 
heard  by  every  one  in  the  room.  **  My  son-in- 
law  is  a  new  member  of  my  family,  and  may  pos 
sibly  be  excused  for  not  knowing  my  views.  But 
it  were  discourtesy  to  my  guests  not  to  make 
them  acquainted  with  them.  I  am  known  in 
this  place  as  an  advocate  of  temperance,  of  total 
abstinence.  I  do  not  believe  in  wine  made  of 
any  kind  of  fruit,  whether  it  be  of  currants  or 
grapes.  I  never  offer  wine  to  guests  of  mine,  and 
never  mean  to." 

"  Randolph,"  said  Mr.  Harper,  touching  Tom 
on  the  shoulder,  as  the  elder  Mr.  Randolph  sat 
down,  "  be  proud  of  your  father." 

"  I  am,"  said  Tom,  his  eyes  glowing.  "  I'll  be 
hanged  if  I  don't  like  square  out  and  out  inde 
pendence,  even  when  it  fires  a  shot  right  at  me." 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

REAL  OB  IMITATION? 

next  thing  they  did  was  to  go  shop 
ping —  Ermina  and  Faith  and  Mrs.  Mun- 
roe.  The  last-named  lady  was  fond  of 
shopping.  Once  it  had  been  a  trial  to 
her,  because  of  the  windows  and  shelves 
and  cases  full  of  beauty  that  she  must  needs  pass 
by ;  but  nowadays  her  purse  was  well  filled.  At 
least  it  always  seemed  so  to  her,  unless  she  came 
in  contact  with  Faith  Halsted.  Mrs.  Munroe's 
wealth  would  always  be  that  of  degree.  When 
in  the  presence  of  her  sisters,  with  their  carefully 
counted  pennies,  she  felt  rich  ;  when  she  was 
with  Faith,  in  view  of  that  young  lady's  half 
million,  she  was  poor,  and  somewhat  discon 
tented.  It  was  this  feeling  that  served  to  put 
238 


Real  or  Imitation  t  239 

her  in  a  petulant,  argumentative  mood  whenever 
she  came  in  contact  with  Faith.  Ermina  went 
shopping  because  she  had  a  half  holiday,  with 
nothing  in  particular  to  do ;  and  she  said  it  was 
refreshing  to  look  on  occasionally  and  see  other 
people  spend  money,  even  though  she  had  none 
to  spend  herself.  Faith  went  of  necessity,  be 
cause  things  would  wear  out  and  must  necessarily 
be  replaced.  In  her  haste  to  get  settled  for  the 
summer  she  had  left  much  of  her  summer  sewing 
to  do  after  she  reached  her  new  home.  Mrs. 
Munroe  went  because,  as  I  told  you,  she  enjoyed 
it.  They  were  a  pretty  trio  in  their  cheerful 
summer  toilets.  A  trifle  overdressed  Mrs  Mun 
roe  was  for  the  street.  It  was  her  besetting 
temptation.  But  Faith  was  as  simple  in  her 
toilet  as  Ermina  herself;  and  that  young  lady 
was  wont  to  remark  that  "  severe  simplicity  "  be 
came  her  complexion  and  her  purse.  1  don't 
remember  whether  I  have  ever  told  you  how  Er 
mina  looked.  I  am  anxious  that  you  should 
know.  She  had  large  gray  eyes,  and  hair  so 
brown  that  sometimes  people  imagined  it  to  be 
black.  She  had  a  somewhat  large  mouth,  in 
which  one  caught  glimpses  of  rows  of  white 
teeth.  And  no\v  you  know  almost  nothing 
about  how  she  looked.  As  if  eyes  and  hair  and 
teeth  told  anything  about  the  look.  I  wonder 
what  it  is.  Everybody  has  eyes,  and  quite  a 


240  Household  Puzzles. 

good  many  people  have  hair  and  teeth  of  their 
own,  even  in  these  days ;  and  yet  we  never  get 
mixed  up,  mistaking  other  people  for  our  sisters, 
or  our  husbands  or  fathers  —  the  look  is  there, 
the  distinguishing  something  that  makes  each 
person  distinct  from  every  other  person.  Er- 
mina  had  the  look,  in  a  marked  degree.  No  one 
ever  said  of  her,  "  There  goes  one  of  the  Ran 
dolph  girls."  She  was  Ermina  Randolph  to 
everybody  that  knew  her.  On  this  sunny  after 
noon,  as  the  three  ladies  took  their  seats  in  a 
street  car,  Ermina  in  her  plainly  made  silver- 
gray  dress  looked  every  inch  a  lady.  Mrs.  Munroe 
was,  as  I  said,  just  a  little  too  much  dressed,  and 
Faith  was  so  small  and  slight  that  every  one 
thought  her  a  fair  young  girl  not  out  of  her  teens 
by  some  years.  The  cars  filled  rapidly  and 
there  presently  occurred  that  interesting  condi 
tion  peculiar  to  street  cars  —  more  people  than 
seats.  Among  the  standers  was  a  woman  be 
longing  to  that  class  to  whom  belongs  the  term 
"common  people"  —  whatever  that  may  mean 
in  this  country  of  free  schools  and  republican 
principles.  I  think  it  generally  means  that  the 
women  wear  calico  dresses,  where  the  .other  class 
wear  some  other  material.  A  refined  distinction 
you  will  observe.  This  particular  woman  was 
in  clean,  neat,  recently  starched  calico,  of  a 
auiet,  neutral  tint.  In  her  arms  she  carried  a 


Real  or  Imitation  f  241 

plump,  well-to-do  baby,  whose  head  bobbed 
from  side  to  side  incessantly,  partly  because  of 
the  jar  of  the  car,  and  partly  from  his  intense  de 
sire  to  see  all  that  was  to  be  seen.  She  stood 
opposite  Erniina,  who  indulged  in  a  mental  cal 
culation  on  the  probable  weight  of  the  child, 
and  then  glanced  down  the  car  at  the  row  of 
fashionably  dressed  young  men,  who  were  mak 
ing  merry  over  the  personal  appearance  of  some 
of  the  passengers.  Suddenly  Ermina  arose,  and 
as  the  car  had  stopped  to  receive  a  package  and 
a  message,  her  voice  could  be  heard  distinctly. 

"  Take  my  seat,  madam.  It  is  difficult  to 
stand  and  carry  a  child,"  and,  as  the  woman  ob 
jected,  "  I  insist,  madam.  I  am  abundantly 
able  to  stand."  Instantly  the  three  young  men 
were  on  their  feet,  and  the  nearest  one  tendered 
his  seat  in  unmistakably  pressing  terms. 

"  No,"  said  our  gray-eyed  lady,  coldly  and 
proudly.  "No,  thank  you.  I  am  quite  able  to 
stand,  and  the  lady  to  whom  I  gave  my  seat  wag 
not." 

Mrs.  Munroe  took  her  to  task  for  it  afterward. 

"  What  is  the  use  in  being  so  different  from 
everybody  else,  Ermina.  It  certainly  isn't  your 
business  to  provide  women  and  babies  with  seats. 
You  spoke  out  so  rudely,  too,  to  those  gentle 
men.  The  one  who  spoke  to  you  was  General 
Thointon's  son.  Did  you  know  him  ?  " 
16 


242  Household  Puzzle*. 

"No,"  said  Ermina,  decidedly;  "and  I  don't 
want  to.  A  gentleman  would  offer  his  seat  to  a 
woman  and  a  baby,  provided  he  felt  able  to 
stand  at  all.  I  am  uot  quenched,  Helen,  eveo 
by  your  disapproval.  I  am  glad  I  spoke  out." 

"  Well,  /say  you  were  bold,  and  unnecessarily 
rude.  Don't  you  think  so,  Faith  ?  I  was  morti 
fied.  It  does  seem  as  if  we  were  fated  to  have 
something  ridiculous  or  mortifying  happen  when 
ever  Mr.  Harper  is  present  to  look  on." 

"Mr.  Harper!"  Ermina  repeated,  with  a 
little  start.  "  Where  was  he  ?  I  am  sure  he  was 
invisible  to  me." 

"  He  was  standing  on  the  platform,  and  saw 
and  heard  the  whole  proceeding,  I  know  by  the 
appearance  of  his  face." 

"Oh,"  very  composedly,  "you  studied  his 
face,  did  you  ?  I  am  glad  he  had  no  seat." 

"  Why  in  the  world  are  you  glad  of  that  ?  " 

"  Oh,  simply  because  I  consider  that  posture 
beneficial  to  health  and  strength,  and  I  have  a 
benevolent  interest  in  his  welfare." 

Faith  laughed. 

"Jam  glad,  too,"  she  said,  in  an  aside  to  Er- 
imina.  "  I  like  him." 

"  Well,  I'm  sure  I  hope  you  are  rested  for  our 
shopping,  after  standing  for  half  an  hour  in  a 
street  car.  Utterly  unnecessary  it  was,  too.  I 
presume  that  woman  is  used  to  standing  at  the 


Real  or  Imitation  f  243 

TC ^-ill-tub  all  day.  Faith,  did  you  notice  the 
cotton  lace  on  thit  child's  cloak  and  hat?  I  de 
clare,  it  perfectly  disgusts  me  to  see  how  such 
people  try  to  iir/itate  us." 

"  Me,  for  rj.'fcance,"  said  Ermina,  utter  uncon 
cern  in  her  roice.  "  I  have  an  imitation  lace 
ruSfto  in  my  dress  this  minute.' 

Faith  rjdghed  again. 

"So  bave  1,"  she  said,  brightly;  "and  /think 
I  look  very  nice  in  it." 

"  I  wonder  if  you  wear  imitation  lace  I  "  Mrs. 
Munroe  said,  utter  surprise  in  her  voice.  "  I  am 
sure  it's  very  pretty.  I  thought  it  was  real." 

"That's  the  beauty  of  the  imitation.  I  am 
obliged  to  judge  by  the  price  of  it  half  the  time, 
which  proves  that  the  imitation  is  almost  as 
pretty  as  the  real." 

"  Oh,  I  can  tell  it  as  a  general  thing,"  said 
Mrs.  Munroe  with  marked  emphasis  on  the  "  J." 
(N.  B.  —  If  you  know  any  fashionable  lady,  who 
never  bought  half  a  dozen  yards  of  "reaZ"  lace 
in  her  life,  you  may  be  sure  she  will  be  the  one 
to  declare  her  ability  to  distinguish  the  real  from 
the  counterfeit,  even  in  the  dark.)  "  But  yours 
is  a  remarkable  good  imitation.  Ermina's,  now, 
is  almost  as  bad  as  that  ridiculous  woman's. 
Don't  you  dislike  to  see  such  attempts  to  deck 
out  a  baby?  The  child  would  have  looked 
better  in  calico." 


244  Household  Puzzles. 

"I  don't  think  so,"  Faith  said,  stoutly.  •*  1 
liked  the  poor  woman  just  because  she  had  taken 
such  evident  pains  to  make  her  baby  look  pretty. 
If  she  can  not  have  the  real  things  for  her 
darling,  she  gives  him  the  best  that  her  purse 
will  afford." 

"That  is  mere  sentiment,"  Mrs.  Monroe  said, 
in  an  oracular  tone. 

Then  they  both  went  into  Caswell  &  Hollis- 
ter's  store.  Those  gentlemen  kopt  a  line  of 
goods  not  to  be  found  at  Munroe's.  Ermina 
was  staid  at  the  very  entrance. 

"  What  lovely  calicoes !  I  think  I  never  saw 
any  prettier.  Helen,  they  have  none  like  these 
at  your  store  ?  " 

Mrs.  Munroe  surveyed  them  coldly. 

"  I'm  sure  I  don't  know  whether  they  have 
or  not,"  she  said,  in  an  indifferent  tone.  "They 
are  common,  ten-cent  prints.  I  don't  patronize 
that  class  of  goods,  and  never  notice  whether  we 
have  them  or  not/' 

Ermina's  interest  increased. 

"Are  they  only  ten  cents?"  she  questioned, 
eagerly.  "  That  sounds  as  if  it  might  come 
within  the  bounds  of  my  purse,  and  I  really 
need  a  couple  to  sew  in.  I  believe  I'll  buy 
some." 

"  Ermina,  what  nonsense !  Cambrics  are  only 
twenty  cents,  and  English  calicoes  you  can  get 
for  fifteen." 


Real  or  Imitation  f  245 

"  But  if  I  can  get  what  will  answer  the  same 
purpose  for  ten  cents,  why  shouldn't  I  ?  " 

"  They  won't  answer  the  same  purpose.  No 
one  wears  those  common  things." 

"  I  do,"  said  Faith,  emphatically.  "  I  have 
two.  Paid  ten  cents  a  yard  for  them  in  New 
York.  No,  I  declare, —  one  was  nine  cents; 
and  I  have  them  made  up  beautifully.  They 
are  the  prettiest  dresses  I  have — in  their  sphere, 
you  know." 

Mrs.  Munroe  gave  her  rich  cousin  a  stare  of 
genuine  astonishment,  and  questioned  her  ener 
getically,  while  Ermina  reveled  in  buff  and  gray 
tints,  among  the  ten-cent  calicoes. 

"  Why  in  the  world  do  you  buy  such  cheap 
things,  Faith?  I'm  sure  you  can't  plead  econ 
omy." 

"  Why  not  ?  "  Faith  asked,  good-humoredly. 
**  Why  should  I  waste  money  because  I  happen 
to  have  more  than  some  people  ?  " 

"  But  do  you  consider  buying  cambrics  a 
waste  of  money  ?  " 

Faith  laughed  merrily.  "What  a  logician 
you  would  make  this  afternoon ! "  she  said. 
"We  were  not  talking  about  cambrics  —  you 
were  denying  me  the  duty  of  economizing." 

"  Well,"  Mrs.  Munroe  said,  drawing  her 
Paisley  shawl  about  her  shoulders  with  an  impa 
tient  jerk,  "  I  suppose  you  are  not  so  obtuse  but 


246  Household  Puzzle*. 

that  you  take  my  meaning.  Do  you  pretend  to 
say  you  think  common,  coarse  calicoes  are  as 
good  as  cambrics?" 

"  I  don't  remember  having  said  anything  of 
the  kind,  Cousin  Helen.  There  are  places  to  go 
to  where  I  should  rather  prefer  a  cambric  dress 
to  a  calico ;  but  there  are  also  places  where  the 
ten-cent  dresses  fit  in  beautifully,  and  I  won't 
be  so  silly  as  to  keep  myself  from  buying  them 
merely  because  they  only  cost  half  as  much 
as  some  other  goods.  I  detest  that  sort  of  shod- 
dyism." 

Ermina  laughed.  "  That  is  good,"  she  said, 
heartily.  "  I  think  you  have  touched  the  root 
of  the  question.  I  am  just  waking  up  to  see  it. 
The  price  per  yard  marks  the  importance  of 
American  costumes,  and  not  the  'pretty,'  at  all. 
Now,  for  instance,  I'm  sure  anybody  with  eyes 
must  see  that  this  pale  sea-green  ground,  with 
dots  of  deeper  green  all  over  it,  would  be  very 
pretty,  if  it  were  not  for  that  fatal  ten-cent 
ticket  on  it.  Helen,  I'm  sorry  to  shock  your 
taste  so  deeply ;  but  I  must  have  a  dress  of  this ; 
it  suits  me  —  and  my  pocket-book  —  two  im 
portant  matters." 

"  There  might  be  another  reason  given  for 
economical  dresses,"  Faith  said,  with  the  far 
away  look  in  her  eyes.  "  This  whole  question 
of  dress  is  a  misterious,  and  sometimes  a  painful 


Real  or  Imitation  f  247 

puzzle  to  me.  Where  to  draw  the  line  —  how 
far,  as  responsible  stewards,  to  spend  money 
that  is  intrusted  to  our  keeping,  for  the  simple 
purpose  of  adorning  our  own  bodies  —  I'm  sure 
I  don't  know.  Whether  to  buy  any  real  lace  at 
all,  when  there  is  actual  starvation  in  the  world, 
both  of  the  body  and  the  soul,  is  a  strange 
query.  What  do  you  think,  Ermina  ?  " 

"  I  never  thought  about  it  at  all,"  Ermina 
answered,  bluntly.  "  I  never  had  any  money  to 
buy  real  lace  with,  nor  real  things  of  any  sort, 
and  never  expect  to  have." 

"But  do  you  never  try  to  make  other  people's 
duties  plain  to  them  ? "  Faith  asked,  with  a 
merry  twinkle  in  her  eye. 

"  Plenty  of  times,  so  far  as  their  duties  toward 
me  were  concerned;  but  I  never  troubled  myself 
about  their  relations  to  the  heathen.  I  should 
think,  though,  it  would  be  rather  an  easy  ques 
tion  to  settle,  if  one  wanted  to  settle  it  conscien 
tiously —  it  would  simply  involve  a  little  close 
looking  into  things,  to  discover  which  was  really 
of  the  most  importance,  lace  or  soul." 

"  What  a  startling  way  of  putting  it !  "  Faith 
said,  thoughtfully. 

"  What  an  absurd  way  of  putting  it  I  "  Mrs. 
Munroe  said.  "  Ermina,  you  are  tumbling 
those  prints  about  in  a  shocking  way.  Do  coma 
on  I" 


248  Household  Puzzles. 

"  I  can't,"  said  Ermina.  "  I  want  to  buy  a 
dress,  I'm  sure.  I  am  waiting  to  be  served. 
The  clerks  are  all  busy  —  lace  is  uppermost,  you 
perceive,  this  afternoon." 

"  But,  Ermina,  if  one  really  takes  that  view 
of  the  question,  where  will  it  end  ?  "  This  Faith 
said,  speaking  earnestly.  "  Since  there  really  is 
starvation  in  the  world,  why  should  we  have 
any  of  the  things  that  we  do?  It  is  not  a  ques 
tion  of  real  lace  and  silk  and  velvet  simply,  but 
of  merino  and  popHn,  and  carpets  and  pictures, 
and  music  and  flowers,  even.  Where  is  the 
dividing  line  ?  " 

Ermina  laughed.  "  I  don't  know,  I'm  sure," 
she  said,  lightly.  "  It  is  a  puzzle.  I  think 
about  it  as  little  as  possible,  and  buy  my  ten-cent 
calicoes  because  I  can  not  afford  any  better,  and 
for  no  other  earthly  reason." 

"  You  are  a  ridiculous  couple  I  "  Mrs.  Munroe 
said,  shortly.  "  If  you  really  are  going  to  stay 
here  and  tumble  over  horrid  prints,  and  moraliza 
all  the  afternoon,  why,  I'll  go  on.  I  came  tc 
match  blue  silk." 

Mr.  Harper  had  a  way  of  appearing  to  people 
at  unexpected  moments.  It  was  when  the 
green  calico  had  been  purchased,  and  the  ladies, 
returned  from  a  vain  search  after  the  right 
shade  of  blue  silk,  halted  again  before  the 
calico  counter,  while  Faith  picked  out  a  dainty 


Real  or  Imitation  f  249 

norning  slip  for  Pearly,  that  he  came  over  to 
them. 

"  Didn't  I  hear  you  puzzling  your  brains  over 
abstruse  questions  of  starvation  and  plenty?" 
he  said  to  Faith,  in  a  familiar  tone.  He  and 
Faith  had  been  friends  since  the  latter's  early 
childhood. 

"  We  didn't  know  that  you  heard  us,"  she 
said,  brightly.  "  But  since  you  did,  perhaps 
you  can  help  us." 

"Not  very  materially,  I  fear.  You  must  ask 
my  sister  about  that.  She  is  in  town.  Did 
you  know  it?  When  will  you  ladies  call  on 
her?  There  is  one  sentence,  Faith,  that  might 
help,  I  should  think :  '  Whether,  therefore, 
ye  eat  or  drink,  or  whatsoever  ye  do,  do  all 
to  the  glory  of  God.'  Have  you  thought  of 
that  ? " 

"Yes,  and  it  increased  the  puzzle.  We  just 
don't  live  it.  How  can  we  ?  " 

"Ask  my  sister." 

"  \Vho  is  his  sister?"  Mrs.  Muiiroe  asked/ 
as  they  went  down  Chester  Street. 

"  She  is  Mrs.  Laport,  of  Boston,  daughter 
of  Kenneth  J.  Carlton,  of  Washington.  I  don't 
know  her ;  they  have  been  abroad  since  her 
marriage." 

"  Thev  are  immensely  rich,  are  they  not  ? " 


250 


Household  Puzzles. 


Mrs.  Munroe'a  tones  were  respectful;  they 
always  were  when  she  spoke  of  riches. 

"  Very,"  Faith  said,  simply. 

"Humph!"  said  Ermina.  "What  can  sh« 
know  about  the  subject  of  silks  and  souls  ?  " 


CHAPTER  XX. 

A  PROTECTOR. 

was  a  beautiful  room,  not  small, —  Mrs. 
Munroe  disliked  small  rooms,  and  had  as 
little  to  do  with  them  as  possible, —  but 
it  was  so  daintily  furnished  with  house 
hold  conveniences  and  comforts  as  to  give 
an  idea  of  cosiness  and  diminutiveness.  The 
walls  were  hung  with  a  delicate  tint  of  buff,  bor 
dered  with  a  deep  maroon,  rich  maroon  carpet 
on  the  floor,  chairs  and  sofas  and  little  cunning 
ottomans  all  in  rich  maroon  rep, —  even  the 
spread  for  the  tiny  round  table  was  of  the  same 
glowing  color.  It  was  Mrs.  Muuroe's  sitting- 
room.  There  were  little  corner  stands,  with 
ftooks  and  papers,  and  sewing  materials ;  and 
brackets,  with  vases  and  flowers ;  there  was 
everywhere  that  beautiful,  systematic,  unstiff 

251 


252  Household  Puzzles. 

ness  of  arrangement  which  a  tasteful  lady  knows 
how  to  bestow  upon  the  family  room.  In  the 
center  of  this  fair  room  sat  the  lady  of  the  house, 
her  toilet  quite  in  keeping  with  her  surroundings, 
the  colors  of  her  dress  blending  harmoniously 
with  the  prominent  colors  of  the  room.  Mrs 
Munroe  had  an  eye  for  details.  Sometimes,  Low 
ever,  the  most  fastidious  lady  is  obliged  to  endure 
contrasts.  Mrs.  Munroe's  companion  was  a  con 
trast.  He  sat  in  one  of  the  luxurious  maroon 
chairs;  his  hat,  tipped  on  one  side,  showed  plain 
ly  that  a  blow  or  wound  of  some  sort  had  black 
ened  his  left  eye  ;  his  coat  was  torn  away  in  front, 
as  if  he  had  rescued  it  from  a  rude  grasp ;  his 
boots  were  thick  with  black,  filthy  looking  mud; 
his  face  was  flushed,  ah  unnatural  red  ;  and  his 
breathing,  or  rather  snoring,  had  a  strange,  un 
natural  sound.  Mrs.  Munroe  had  let  her  Java 
canvas  slip  from  her  silken  dress  to  the  floor,  and 
t>at  with  clasped  hands,  looking  steadily  at  the 
sleeping  object  before  her.  It  was  perfectly  plain 
to  any  looker  on  that  his  sleep  was  that  which  is 
caused  by  taking  a  glass  too  much.  A  drunken 
man !  Well,  if  he  were  only  Jim  Smith,  living 
over  the  wretched  little  corner  rum-hole,  that 
would  be  the  proper  name  to  use ;  but  inasmuch 
as  he  was  Mr.  Horace  Munroe,  of  the  firm  of 
Evans,  Munroe  &  Co.,  people  hesitated,  and  geu- 
jrally  said  that  he  was  a  little  overcome  with 


A  Protector.  253 

liquor.  There  were  no  tears  in  his  wife's  eyes. 
Helen  Munroe  was  not  one  who  had  tears  to 
spare  for  many  occasions  —  this  one  did  not  call 
them  forth ;  but  if  you  have  never  pitied  her  in 
your  life,  I  hope  you  do  now  —  she  needs  pity. 

It  is  an  old  story,  it  has  been  repeated  until  it 
is  familiar  to  every  one,  and  I  think  we  American 
people  must  enjoy  its  recital,  we  take  such  pains^ 
to  manufacture  just  such  homes  as  these.  I  sup- 
pose  it  never  grows  commonplace  to  the  suffering 
wife.  There  were  features  about  this  family  life 
that  made  it  peculiarly  terrible.  Mrs.  Munroe 
had  in  the  place  of  an  absorbing  love,  such  as  the 
marriage  relation  should  be  built  upon,  only  a 
composed,  quiet  friendship  for  her  husband. 
Perhaps  you  think  that  would  make  the  trial  less 
hard.  I  tell  you  I  don't  think  so.  I  have  known 
drunkards'  wives  clinging  to  their  husbands  with 
almost  Godlike  pity  and  patience  as  they  sank 
from  one  depth  to  another,  and  those  wives  wer$ 
sustained  by  that  blessed  love  that  God  had  given 
them  for  their  husbands  ;  it  enabled  them  to  beai 
up  under  trials  that  would  otherwise  have  crushed 
them,  to  cling  where  they  would  otherwise  have 
spurned,  to  hope  when  others  despaired.  I  say 
it  was  harder  for  Mrs.  Munroe  because  she  did 
not  love  her  husband.  She  liked  the  position 
that  he  had  given  her ;  she  liked  her  beautiful 
home,  and  all  its  tasteful  appointments ,  but  sit- 


254  Household  Puzzles. 

ting  there  that  evening,  looking  at  the  red-faced, 
swollen-eyed,  filthy  creature  whose  name  she  bore, 
whose  wife  she  was,  she  h;ited  the  very  sight  of 
him ;  and  if  there  is  anything  more  terrible  in  all 
this  pitiful  earth  than  that,  I  don  t  know  what  it 
can  be.  I  have  heard  people  tell  of  what  strange 
and  queer,  and  sometimes  trivial,  thoughts  came 
.to  them  when  they  believed  themselves  to  be 
drowning.  Some  of  the  thoughts  of  this  young 
wife  were  equally  strange.  She  sat,  'with  dry, 
wide-open  eyes,  and  stared  at  her  husband.  How 
strange  that  such  a  pitiable  wretch  should  bear 
that  name  !  *•  Love,  honor  and  protect"  she  said, 
repeating  a  scrap  of  the  marriage  service  which 
came  to  her  just  then,  repeating  it  with  curling 
lips  of  scorn.  The  city  clock  struck  nine.  She 
counted  the  strokes  from  the  force  of  newly-ac 
quired  habit;  she  compared  the  time  with  her 
little  gold  watch,  that  was  a  present  from  her 
husband.  Always,  in  the  house  nearly  across  the 
street,  as  the  clock  struck  nine  the  head  of  the 
house  took  down  the  family  Bible  and  the  house 
hold  gathered  for  prayers.  Suppose  it  was  their 
custom  in  this  family, —  how  would  they  manage 
it  this  evening?  "He  is  much  too  drunk  to 
kneel,"  she  said,  uloud,  and  then  she  laughed  — 
a  terrible  laugh.  Such  natures  as  Helen  Mun- 
roe's  are  sometimes  brought,  through  heavy  trial 
and  pain,  to  kneel  in  utter  self-abnegation,  and 


A  Protector.  255 

fiiid  peace.  Sometimes  such  natures  as  hers  are 
brought  to  mad-houses  through  like  trials.  Her 
laugh  was  like  that.  She  went  on  with  her  half- 
insane  thoughts.  "  What  if  he  were  not  my  hus 
band  ?  What  if  he  were  some  miserable  street 
loafer  who  had  blundered  in  here,  I  wonder  what 
I  should  do  with  him  ?  I  should  probably  scream 
to  my  husband  to  protect  me  from  him  ;  but  who 
is  there  to  protect  me  from  my  husband?"  Then 
she  laughed  again.  "  Perhaps  I  should  kill  him; 
perhaps  I  shall  anyway  ,  then  I  should  be  a  widow. 
I  don't  think  murder  would  be  a  very  hard  thing 
to  do.  I  can  think  of  worse  things."  The  front 
door-bell  rang,  there  was  a  slipping  of  bolts,  and 
voices  in  the  hall,  the  girl's  (a  foolish  young  sec-, 
ond  girl,  it  was  Rebecca's  evening  out)  and  a  gen 
tleman's.  Mrs.  Munroe  heard  neither  bell  nor 
voices  ;  she  heard  her  husband's  breathing.  The 
girl  knew  that  her  mistress  was  in  the  sitting- 
room,  and  that  Mr.  Munroe  had  recently  come  in 
—  that  was  all  she  knew.  Nothing  was  more  nat 
ural  than  that  she  should  throw  open  the  door  of 
the  sitting-room  to  Mr.  Harper.  He  came  forward 
with  quick  step  and  cheerful  voice. 

"Good  evening,  Mrs.  Munroe.  I  fear  I  am 
intruding  on  the  quiet  of  family  life ;  but  I  have 
a  little  item  of  business  of  some  importance.  Can 
I  see  your  husband  ?  " 

Mrs.  Munroe  was  a  woman  of  two  natures  — 


2o6  Household  Puzzles. 

one  was  made  up  of  fierce,  strong  pride.  She 
sprang  to  her  feet,  her  first  impulse,  to  take  Mr. 
Harper  by  the  shoulders  and  thrust  him  from  the 
room.  Anyone  but  him!  Oh,  for  that  man  to 
know  the  depths  to  which  she  had  fallen,  was  the 
bitterness  of  horror.  Her  second  thought,  was 
the  utter  impossibility  of  keeping  secret  their 
dreadful  condition  and  the  utter  incongruity  of 
his  errand.  She  laughed  in  his  face  that  fearful 
laugh. 

"It  is  an  infinite  pity  to  have  disturbed  such 
delightful  family  communion  as  ours.  I  hardly 
know  how  to  forgive  you.  Oh,  yes,  you  can  see 
my  husband.  I  presume  he  will  be  very  happy 
.  to  discuss  important  business  with  you.  There 
he  is." 

All  this  in  almost  a  moment  of  time,  and  she 
pointed  her  scornful  finger  at  the  sleeping  man. 
Mr.  Harper  wheeled  in  bewilderment,  following 
the  pointing  finger.  One  glance  at  Mr.  Munroe's 
face  and  dress  and  position,  and  he  comprehended 
the  situation.  Then  an  almost  infinite  pity  took 
possession  of  him,  and  an  almost  equal  embar 
rassment —  what  to  do,  what  to  say,  rather,  what 
not  to  say.  He  stood  iu  utter  silence  and  dismay 
until  a  glance  at  an  opposite  mirror,  in  which  was 
reflected  Mrs.  Munroe's  stony  face,  recalled  to  him 
the  necessity  for  doing  something.  He  turned  to 
her. 


A  Protector.  257 

"  Mrs.  Munroe,  nothing  can  justify  my  iutru  • 
Bion  upon  you,  but  the  hope  that  I  can  do  some 
thing  for  you.  In  what  way  can  I  best  help 
you?" 

"  I  want  no  help,"  she  said,  with  hardness  in 
her  voice.  "  What  help  is  there  for  me  ?  " 

"  May  I  bring  some  one  to  you, —  your  brother 
or  sisters  ?  " 

Atrain  Mrs.  Munroe  laughed. 

o  o 

"  My  brother  !  "  she  said,  in  an  utterly  scorn 
ful  tone  ;  "  he  is  probably  in  the  same  delightful 
condition.  They  have  been  on  a  pleasure  excur 
sion,  you  understand.  As  for  my  sisters,  they 
are  the  last  persons  on  the  face  of  the  earth  that 
I  want  to  see.  No,  thank  you,  my  husband  is  my 
legal  protector.  I  must  look  to  him  for  help." 

Mr.  Harper  actually  shivered. 
•  "  Don't,"  he  said,  in  a  pleading  tone.     "  It  is  a 
bitter  trial,  but  don't  receive  it  in  this  way  ;  you 
are  only  making  the  burden  heavier.     May  I  help 
him  to  his  room,  and  make  him  comfortable?" 

"  No,"  she  said,  fiercely,  "  you  may  not.  Com 
fortable  !  What  does  it  matter  ?  " 

"  But  what  are  you  going  to  do  ?  " 

"  Nothing  ;  let  him  finish  his  nap.  I  hope  he 
will  waken  in  a  refreshed  state  of  mind." 

"•  But,  dear  madam,  he  is  your  husband" 

"  I  know  it,"  she  said,  in  a  husky  voice.  "God 
pity  me.'' 

17 


258  Household  Puzzles. 

Still  Mr.  Harper  stood  irresolute.  To  leave 
her  in  loneliness,  and  in  such  a  state  of  heart, 
seemed  impossible- ;  to  remain  longer  with  the  in 
sulted  wife  and  the  drunken  husband,  seemed 
equally  impossible. 

"  May  1  not  go  for  your  father  ?  "  he  asked, 
with  a  sudden  hope  in  his  heart. 

Mrs.  Munroe's  lip  quivered,  but  she  resolutely 
shook  her  head. 

"Not  for  the  world.  This  would  Tcill  my 
father ;  besides  —  he  warned  me.  No,  Mr.  Har 
per,  I  am  utterly  alone." 

"Never  that,"  he  said,  earnestly.  "  You  have 
the  unfailing,  ever-pre&ent  Friend,  the  One  who 
knows  your  sorrow.  May  I  not  beseech  you  to 
carry  this  burden  to  him  ?  " 

"  I  never  understood  such  talk,"  she  said,  bit 
terly.  "It  never  comforted  me  in  the  least  —  it 
doesn't  now.  God  has  everything  in  his  hands; 
he  can  control  the  world.  Why  does  he  permit 
such  burdens  to  come  upon  people  ?  Why  does 
he  allow  my  husband  to  make  a  beast  of  him- 
Belf  ?  Would  yvu  allow  it,  if  you  could  help  it? 
and  are  you  more  humane  than  God  ?  " 

Mi'.  Harper  hesitated  —  it  was  such  a  strange 
time  for  the  discussion  of  theological  questions. 

"  Dear  madam,"  he  said,  speaking  very  gently, 
41  when  you  accepted  Christ  as  your  Friend,  did 
you  not  engage  to  take  some  things  on  trust, —  to 


A  Protestor.      .  259 

believe  that  what  you  could  not  see>  was  yet  clear 
to  the  eye  and  the  heart  of  your  Saviour,  and  that 
he  ruled?" 

"  No,"  she  said,  passionately,  "I  don't  see  it  at 
all ;  it  seems  to  me  exactly  as  though  Satan  ruled. 
Who  but  he  could  make  such  an  object  of  my 
husband  as  that?  And  if  his  plans  succeed,  in 
stead  of  God's,  which  is  the  greater?" 

"  They  will  not  succeed,"  he  said,  quietly,  "  un 
less  you  let  them.  God  is  on  your  side,  he  will 
surely  deliver  you  if  you  trust  in  him ;  if  you  turn 
from  him  how  can  he  help  you?" 

She  had  quieted  again,  but  answered  him  sul 
lenly, — 

"  I  know  very  well  he  needn't  have  made  a 
brute  of  himself  unless  he  had  chosen  ;  but  having 
chosen  to  do  so,  I  don't  see  how  I  can  help  it." 

"  Have  you  tried  to  help  it?  "  he  asked,  eager 
ly.  "Mrs.  Munroe,  your  husband  is  not  a  Chris 
tian,  but  he  has  a  Christian,  wife.  God  has  put 
u  powerful  weapon  into  your  hands ;  do  you  use 
it  lo  the  utmost?" 

"  I  suppose  you  mean  do  I  pray  for  him  ?  "  she 
said,  coldly.  "  Why,  yes ;  of  course  I  pray  for 
my  husband  ;  but  you  see  how  much  good  it  has 
clone  thus  far.  There  is  something  besides  pray 
ing  to  be  done  in  this  world." 

"  That  is  painfully  true.  I  wonder  if  you  and 
I  are  doing  our  very  utmost.  Until  we  are,  we 


260  Household  Puzzles. 

should  not  dare  lay  the  unfinished  work  upon  God, 
Mrs.  Munroe,  may  I  not  go  for  your  Cousin 
Faith  ?  " 

Mrs.  Munroe  shivered  visibly. 

"  Not  for  the  world,''  she  said,  with  energy. 
"She  is  the  last  person  that  I  want  to  see  tri 
umphing  over  my  downfall.  I  will  have  no  one; 
and  if  you  please,  Mr.  Harper,  I  will  not  detain 
you  longer.  Some  things  are  better  endured 
alone." 

"  Alone  with  God,"  he  said,  gently ;  and  then 
the  bell  pealed  through  the  house  again.  Mrs. 
Munroe  roused  suddenly  to  outside  life. 

"  Mr.  Harper,  I  beg  you  to  spare  me  from 
seeing  any  one.  Say  anything — we  are  sick, 
dying,  anything  you  hke  ;  only  don't  let  any  one 
into  this  house." 

More  and  more  bewildered  by  the  strangeness 
of  his  position,  Mr.  Harper  moved  promptly  to 
ward  the  hall ;  but  the  watchful  servant  had  pre 
ceded  him,  and  was  admitting  Ermina  and  Maria 
Randolph. 

"Good  evening,"  he  said,  going  toward  them. 
"  Miss  Randolph,  you  are  fortunately  just  the 
person  whom  I  wish  to  see  in  regard  to  a  little 
business  matter.  Will  you  both  oblige  me  l>y 
stepping  into  the  parlor  a  moment?  That  will 
do,"  he  added  to  the  girl  as  she  turned  on  a  flood 
of  light. 


A  Protector.  201 

"  Where  is  Helen  ?  "  asked  Ermina,  wouder- 
ingly,  as  Mr.  Hiirper  closed  the  door  after  the 
retreating  servant. 

lie  turned  toward  her. 

"She  is  in  trouble,"  he  said,  briefly;  "and,  1 
am  afraid,  does  not  want  to  see  even  you." 

"  That  would  be  an  extraordinary  state  of 
mind — ''  Maria  began,  lightly,  but  her  sister 
interrupted  her. 

"  Has  Horace  come  home  ?  —  is  he  —  "  Then 
she  stopped. 

Mr.  Harper  bowed  in  utter  silence. 

"  Oh,  poor  Helen  !  "  Ermina  said  ;  bu.t  Maria's 
voice  had  no  tenderness. 

"She  was  warned,",  she  said,  hoarsely.  "She 
must  have  known  what  would  come.  It  is  not 
as  hard  for  her  as  it  is  for  father,  with  his  only 
son.  Mr.  Harper,  do  you  know  anything  about 
our  brother  Tom  ?  He  and  Horace  were  to 
gether." 

Mr.  Harper  did  not  know, — judging  from  Mr. 
Munroe's  state,  he  could  only  surmise,  lie  sat 
down  on  a  sofa  opposite  to  the  one  whereon  Er- 
mina  had  sunken  when  she  made  her  one  excla 
mation.  What  a  white,  frightened  face  she  had  ! 
Maria  noticed  it,  and  her  own  seemed  to  grow 
harder. 

"  What  a  delightful  world  it  is !  "  she  said,  in 
great  bitterness.  "  So  much  sunshine  and  hap- 


262  Household  Puzzles. 

piuess. .  Everything  moves  along  so  comfortably. 
I  wonder  there  are  any  infidels." 

"  Hush ! "  said  Mr.  Harper,  with  stern  dig 
nity.  "  For  the  miseries  that  people  bring  upon 
themselves  it  is  weak  and  wicked  to  blame  God." 

She  turned  toward  him. 

"  Perhaps  my  father  brought  his  troubles 
upon  himself,"  she  said,  fiercely.  "The  best 
and  tenderest  man  on  earth ;  unselfish,  and 
patient,  and  long-suffering.  Don't  you  dare 
to  say  that  my  father's  trials  are  of  his  own 
making." 

Mr.  Harper's  voice  was  less  severe,  but  it, 
was  still  firm. 

"  Your  father  is  God's  own  child,  and  is 
safe  in  his  hands.  I  am  sure  that  he  trusts 
him,  and  his  daughter  should  do  no  less.  Your 
father  would  not  like  to  hear  you  call  in  ques 
tion  his  Maker's  work." 

"  I  am  doing  nothing  of  the  sort,  Mr.  Harper. 
I  am  simply  enraged  at  some  of  his  subjects. 
At  you  and  Ermina,  for  instance,  who  profess 
to  have  such  unbounded  faith  in  prayer.  And 
what  do  you  accomplish  by  it  ?  Oh,  I  wish 
/  knew  how  to  pray !  I  would  pray  this  sum 
of  all  horrors  out  of  the  world." 

Something  in  her  earnest  words  surprised 
and  silenced  Mr.  Harper;  and  Ermina  said, 
impulsively, — 


A  Protector.  263 

"  I  wish  she  did ;  she  was  always  the  one 
to  accomplish  in  our  family.  The  rest  of  us 
talk  —  Maria  does  it." 

"  There  is  great  force  in  what  your  sister 
has  just  said,"  Mr.  Harper  answered,  address 
ing  Ermina,  as  she  had  him.  "  I  do  not  won 
der  that  people  are  surprised  at  our  apparent 
inconsistencies.  It  is  true  that  we  accomplish 
very  little  with  our  mighty  weapon ;  but  it  is 
Dot  strange.  A  weapon  cannot  be  expected 
to  accomplish  anything  unless  it  is  used.  We 
all  desire  to  do  something  for  your  sister  and 
your  brothers.  Let  us  do  the  only  thing  that 
we  can  do.  Let  us  pray.  Miss  Maria,  I  ask 
you  to  begin  with  us  the  lesson  that  you  said 
you  wished  you  knew." 

Then  the  three  knelt  down,  and  Mr.  Harper 
prayed.  All  three  of  these  people  had  been 
acting  somewhat  unlike  their  usual  selves. 
Both  the  sisters  lived  a  life  of  repression,  so 
far  as  their  inner  selves  were  concerned.  Both 
had  been  moved  to  speak  a  sentence  or  two 
from  their  hearts,  Mr,  Harper  was  not  given 
to  harshness,  but  his  seose  cf  """erence  had 
been  rudely  snocked,  and  his  voice  had  re> 
sponded.  Their  present  position  together, 
kneeling  in  the  parlor  of  their  sister's  house, 
was  certainly  not  an  ordinary  one,  and  a  less 


264  Household  Puzzlea. 

intensely-in-earnest  party  might  have  wondered 
what  they  would  be  likely  to  do  next. 

They  slipped  however  apparently  without  jar 
into  their  ordinary  selves. 

"Would  we  better  go  in  and  see  Helen?" 
Errnina  asked  her  sister  as  they  arose,  and 
Maria  answered,  in  her  usual  composed  tone, — 

"No.  We  can  do  no  good,  and  of  course 
she  don't  want  to  see  us.  Let's  go  home." 

"  Then  I  will  walk  over  with  you,''  Mr. 
Harper  said.  "  I  am  coming  back  here  to  make 
Mr.  Munroe  comfortable,  and  if  you  are  needed 
for  anything  will  let  you  know." 

As  he  left  them  at  their  own  door  he  said, — 

"  Miss  Maria,  won't  you  pray  for  your 
brother  Tom,  to-night  ?  " 

"  No,"  said  Maria,  with  great  seriousness. 
"But  I  will  ask  Faith  Halsted  to  do  so. 
That  will  be  much  more  to  the  point." 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

A  PUZZLING  DISCUSSION. 

'HE  kitchen  was  as  usual  the  scene 
of  conflict.  Maria  was  shelling  peas. 
Faith,  in  the  doorway,  tried  to  help ; 
but  everybody  who  has  ever  undertaken 
to  "  help  "  at  anything,  and  at  the  same 
time  look  after  the  movements  of  a  boy  a 
year  and  a  half  old,  knows  just  how  much 
such  help  amounts  to.  Mrs.  Munroe  did  not 
even  try.  She  stood  leaning  against  the  pillar 
of  the  side  piazza,  her  cool  blue  and  white 
dress  fluttering  in  the  summer  wind,  her  head 
resting  just  where  a  bright  morning-glory  touched 
her  ear.  She  looked  as  if  trial  and  pain  and 
care  had  nothing  in  common  with  her.  Maria 
was  talking,  of  course. 

"  It  is  a  great  nuisance,  anyway,"  she  was 
saying.  "  I'm  sorry  I  joined.  I'm  sure  I  don't 
know  why  I  did,  unless  it  was  because  father 

HB 


266  Household  Puzzle*. 

had  a  notion  that  my  duty  lay  in  that  di 
rection.  I  can't  see  where  duty  can  consist 
in  making  scarlet  dogs  with  square  noses  and 
yellow  mouths.  I  always  hated  worsted  dogs, 
anyway." 

Faith  laughed  merril}.  Maria's  views  of 
people  and  things  were  very  funny  to  her,  but 
Mrs.  Munroe  looked  dignified. 

"  That  is  a  very  silly  way  to  talk,"  she  said, 
solemnly.  "Why  wouldn't  it  be  your  duty  to 
help  sustain  the  church  society?  You  attend 
church  there,  and  Ermina  is  a  member.  Of 
course  part  of  the  work  ought  to  fall  on  you. 
I'm  sure  you  needn't  make  worsted  cats  and 
dogs,  or  worsted  anything,  unless  you  choose. 
You  can  make  aprons  or  night-caps  if  they 
suit  your  taste  better;  but  I  think  it  is  man 
ifestly  your  duty  to  help  sustain  the  society, 
especially  when  its  object  is  to  help  pay  a 
church  debt." 

"A  church  fiddlestick  I"  said  Maria,  decisive 
ly.  "  That  makes  me  the  maddest  of  any  part 
of  it.  If  the  work  was  of  any  earthly  import 
ance,  if  they  made  check  aprons  for  poor  chil 
dren  or  flannel  petticoats  for  sick  old  women, 
I'd  tolerate  it,  and  sew  all  the  afternoon,  much 
as  I  hate  it;  but  this  meeting  together  every 
other  week  for  a  year,  to  make  yellow  pin 
cushions  and  green  roses,  and  every  imaginable 


A  Puzzling  .Discussion.  267 

kind  of  flummery  that  comes  under  the  general 
name  of  'fancy  work,'  and  then  getting  up  a 
great  big  fair  and  charging  three  times  as  much 
for  a  thing  as  ought  to  be  charged,  and  having 
three  or  four  gambling  establishments  for  side 
shows,  and  doing  it  all  in  the  name  of  the 
church  debt,  when  each  one  who  works  for 
the  concern,  by  paying  in  money  half  of  what 
she  gives  every  year  for  worsted  and  canvas  and 
beads  and  cardboard,  could  wipe  the  church 
debt  out  of  existence  and  have  no  fuss  about  it, 
I  don't  believe  in,"  and  the  strong-minded  young 
woman  shoveled  the  shelled  peas  into  her  pan, 
and  swept  the  pods  away  with  .energy. 

Faith  laughed  again.  Maria'?,  Ideas  were  so 
queer  and  so  jumbled.  Mrs.  Monroe  sti)l  sus 
tained  her  character  for  digoiV. 

"  Oh,  yes,"  she  said,  col'Jiy.  '•*  Of  course  3rou 
know  more  about  such  rjatters  than  all  the 
rest  of  the  church  coi/Ained.  I  wonder  they 
don't  come  to  you  for  advice." 

"  Well,  now,  havei/t  I  told  the  truth  ?  What 
are  all  the  suppers  and  pin-cushions  and  grab-baga 
for?  Isn't  there  a  much  easier  way  of  raising 
money,  if  that  is  the  object  ?  I'll  prove  it  to 
you.  I'm  on  committee  this  afternoon.  I 
worked  all  day  yesterday  baking  cakes.  1 
didn't  count  my  time,  nor  Faith's,  nor  Pearly's, 
and  they  all  helped,  Pearly  especially;  but  just 


268  Household  Puzzle*. 

for  fun,  or  for  my  own  satisfaction,  I  kept  an  ac 
count  of  material,  eggs,  flour,  butter,  milk,  fruit, 
and  hair-oil,  as  Tom  calls  the  flavoring,  and 
what  do  you  think  it  amounted  to?  Just  two 
dollars  and  ninety-five  cents.  Now  suppose  I 
save  my  firewood,  and  my  time,  and  my  apron, 
and  give  that  two  dollars  and  ninety-five  cents 
to  the  society ;  and  suppose  the  ones  who  are  to 
make  the  biscuit,  and  furnish  meat,  and  pickles, 
and  cheese,  and  milk,  and  coffee,  and  the  land 
knows  what,  do  the  same,  wouldn't  the  church 
be  richer  than  if  we  make  a  dozen  cats  and 
dogs  this  afternoon,  and  eat  ray  cake  and 
Nettie  Thatcher's  biscuits  in  the  bargain." 

*•  But  you  wouldn't  do  any  such  thing." 

"Wouldn't  do  what?" 

"  Why,  give  your  money.  There  isn't  one 
lady  in  fifty  would  take  three  dollars  out  of 
her  pocket  and  give  it  outright  for  the  church 
debt;  but  any  of  them  will  make  cake." 

"  Then  it  must  be  because  we  are  all  poor 
mathematicians,  or  fools,"  said  Maria,  with  in 
creased  energy.  "If  our  object  is  to  pay  the 
church  debt,  we  can  certainly  do  it  quicker 
in  my  way ;  but  if  our  object  is  to  meet  in 
the  chapel  and  eat  cake  and  pickles,  I  say 
let  the  object  be  distinctly  stated,  and  don't 
let  us  make  ourselves  think  that  we  are  a 
benevolent  institution  when  we  are  actually 
eating  up  money." 


A  Puzzling  Discussion.  20  9 

Faith  had  listened  and  laughed  through  tMa 
talk,  keeping  silence  herself.  As  she  brought 
Pearly  back  from  a  raid  after  the  gray  cat,  and 
lied  his  shoes,  she  took  up  the  conversation. 

"That's  a  dreadfully  one-sided  argument, 
Maria.  Mrs.  Munroe,  why  don't  you  present 
the  other  side  of  the  question  ?  " 

"  Oh,  I  never  argue  with  her,"  said  Mrs. 
Munroe,  with  strong  emphasis  on  the  "her." 
"•  There's  no  sort  of  use  in  it.  She  has  views 
of  her  own  about  everything  earthly,  and  she 
will  maintain  them  in  spite  of  fate." 

"  That  isn't  so,"  said  Maria,  good-humoredly. 
tl  I  am  willing  to  be  convinced,  if  any  one  will 
take  the  trouble;  but  you  see  Helen  doesn't, 
she  just  says  *  nonsense,'  or  something  of  that 
sort.  Now  I  appeal  to  you,  Faith.  Haven't 
I  told  the  truth?" 

"  Only  part  of  it,"  Faith  said.  "  I  believe 
in  sewing  societies,  but  not  for  any  of  the 
reasons  which  3rou  have  mentioned.  If  they 
were  only  intended  for  the  purpose  of  raising 
money,  I  should,  like  yourself,  consider  them 
very  ludicrous  inventions." 

"  What  on  earth  are  the}"  for  ?  " 

"/  think  for  the  cultivation  of  our  social 
qualities,  for  the  purpose  of  mingling  together 
as  a  church  socially.  There  are  those  in  every 
society,  who  would  never  meet,  never  know 


270  Household  Puzzle*. 

each  other,  if  it  were  not  for  the  social  gath 
erings." 

*'  Then  why  don't  they  call  them  social  tea- 
parties,  and  not  sewing  societies  ?  " 

"Oh,  because  it  is  human  nature  —  and  a 
very  nice,  commendable  nature,  too,  I  think, 
to  like  to  be  doing  something  pleasant  and 
something  useful  at  the  same  time.  Give  us 
a  mutual  object  in  which  to  be  interested ; 
and  what  is  more  likely  to  interest  us  than 
sewing  for  our  own  church?  —  unless  indeed 
we  have  risen  to  a  higher  plane  than  that, 
and  are  sewing  for  the  Church  of  Christ.  Be 
sides,  there  is  another  point,  as  Helen  says. 
You  won't  give  the  money  out-and-out,  but 
you  are  willing  to  give  the  work.  People 
need  to  be  educated  to  systematic  giving,  even 
if  the  giving  is  only  some  loaves  of  cake ;  so 
that  they  are  given  regularly,  at  set  times,  a 
point  has  been  gained.  Now,  Maria,  you  said 
you  were  ready  to  be  convinced.  Have  you 
been?" 

"  Partly  and  partly  not,"  said  Maria,  as  she 
added  more  water  to  the  peas.  "  The  social 
idea  is  a  good  one,  and  I'll  think  better  of 
the  institutions  hereafter  for  its  sake;  tut 
there's  a  flaw  in  them,  as  you  would  see  if 
you  were  going  to  ours  this  afternoon." 

"  Aren't  you  going  ?  "  asked  Mrs.  Munroe. 


A  Puzzling  Discussion.  271 

Faith  shook  her  head. 

"  Pearly  doesn't  approve  of  sewing  societies," 
she  said.  "  I'm  sorry,  because  I  want  to  see 
Maria  hunt  for  the  flaws." 

"  I'll  find  them,"  Maria  said,  positively. 

"  Oh,  I  know  you  will.  Flaws  are  the  easiest 
things  to  find  in  the  world,  if  you  only  look 
for  them." 

So  Ermina  and  Maria  went  to  society.  Maria, 
as  she  had  said,  rarely  went,  unless  she  was 
on  committee  and  had  the  work  to  do.  Ermina 
rarely  during  these  days  had  opportunity  to 
go,  but  this  chanced  to  be  a  time  of  less  haste 
than  usual  in  the  sewing-room. 

In  the  course  of  the  afternoon  Maria  and 
Carrie  Hartley  sat  together.  Carrie  was  mak 
ing  a  tidy,  a  pretty  thing  of  wreaths  and 
leaves,  creations  of  split  zephyr. 

"Isn't  it  lovely?"  she  said,  holding  it  up 
to  view.  "  I  am  perfectly  wild  over  fancy 
work ;  they  do  have  such  a  poky  old  society 
over  at  the  Willard  Street  Church.  I  went 
there  yesterday  with  Nellie  Thayer.  They  are 
making  calico  aprons  and  horrid  sacks,  and 
knitting  stockings  —  and,  oh,  dear!  I  don't 
know  what.  They  are  filling  a  stupid  box 
for  bomo  old  fogy  missionary.  Shouldn't  you 
think  such  a  society  as  that  would  be  horrid  ?  " 

"  Perfectly,"   said   Maria,   solemnly.      "  Why 


272  Household  Puzzles. 

should  old  fogy  home  missionaries  be  sewed 
for,  such  worthless  and  useless  beings  as  they 
are?  Tidies  and  mats  and  cushions  are  what 
we  need  in  this  world.  Who  cares  for  mis 
sionaries  ?" 

Miss  Carrie  stared  incredulously  at  her  com 
panion. 

"  Of  course  missionaries  are  useful,  and  all 
that,"  she  said,  after  a  little,  "and  ought  to 
be  sewed  for;  but  then  I  think  charity  begins 
at  home,  don't  you?  Now  our  church  needs 
a  new  carpet.  I  am  really  ashamed  of  the 
old  one,  it  is  faded  and  worn  considerably ; 
and  1  think  we  need  new  chairs  for  the  pulpit. 
I  hate  red  chairs,  they're  in  bad  taste.  We 
ought  to  fix  up  our  own  church." 

"  Of  course,"  Maria  assented.  "  The  idea 
of  supposing  that  those  wretched  home  mis 
sionaries,  with  their  stocking  less  feet  and  their 
arms  out  at  the  elbows,  are  of  more  import 
ance  than  our  red  chairs,  when  we  ought  to 
have  green  ones,  is  an  utter  absurdity.  I 
don't  know  why  we  should  care  whether  the 
gospel  is  preached  to  the  prairie  heathens  or 
uot,  so  long  as  we  need  a  new  carpet." 

Miss  Carrie  laughed  faintly. 

"What  a  funny  girl  you  are!"  she  said; 
and  presently  bhe  went  to  her  particular  friend, 
Addie  Wilson,  and  said,  "  You  ought  to  have 


A  Puzzling  Discussion.  273 

heard  the  berating  that  Maria  Randolph  gave 
me  because  I  said  we  needed  a  new  church 
carpet !  Isn't  she  a  queer  girl  ?  " 

That  is  about  as  correctly  as  things  are  re 
ported  in  this  world. 

Mrs.  Wheeler,  the  President  of  the  society., 
was  absent.  Little  Mrs.  Clay,  the  Vice-Pres 
ident,  was  to  fill  her  place.  At  five  o'clock 
she  went  from  one  lady  to  another  in  con 
siderable  flurry,  and  apparently  what  she  said 
to  each  produced  some  consternation. 

"  Oh,  I  can't,"  one  lady  said.  "  My  dear 
Mrs.  Clay,  you  must  excuse  me."  "I  never 
did  such  a  thing  in  my  life,"  murmured  an 
other.  "  It  is  quite  impossible  —  utterly  im 
possible.  I  couldn't  if  it  were  to  save  my 
life,"  said  another. 

"  What  in  the  world  does  she  want  them 
to  do  ? "  questioned  Maria  of  her  neighbor. 
"  It  must  be  something  terrific ;  they  are  get 
ting  up  quite  a  commotion." 

"  Why,"  said  the  neighbor,  "  she  wants  some 
one  to  read  in  the  Bible  and  pray.  Such  an 
idea!  Mrs.  Wheeler  always  does  it." 

Maria  laughed  outright. 

"  What  an  excitement,"  she  said,  in  mirth 
ful  sarcasm.  "  Every  one  of  those  ladies  mem 
bers  of  the  church.  I  declare,  I  don't  see 
but  one  individual  besides  myself  who  is  not; 
18 


274  Household  Puzzles. 

and  they  won't  one  of  them  pray  for  th« 
success  of  their  undertaking.  What  is  the  use 
of  their  knowing  how?  They  must  be  dread 
fully  out  of  practice,  or  they  wouldn't  be  thrown 
into  such  confusion." 

And  the  next  sentence  was  addressed  to 
Maria  herself  by  the  flurried  Mrs.  Clay. 

"  My  dear  Miss  Randolph,  won't  you  be  so 
kind  as  to  lend  our  devotional  exercises  this 
afternoon?  Mrs.  Wheeler  cannot  be  present, 
and  it  devolves  upon  me  to  supply  her  place. 
I  should  be  so  much  obliged  if  you  would." 

"  I  presume  you  mean  my  sister,"  said  Maria, 
coolly,  inclining  her  head  toward  Ermina,  who 
sat  at  her  left.  "  She  is  Miss  Randolph,  and 
she  is  a  church-member,  and  so  is  supposed 
to  know  how  to  pray ;  for  myself  I  have  never 
learned." 

Mrs.  Clay  turned  quickly. 

"  O  Miss  Randolph,  would  you  be  so  kind  ?  " 

Ermina's  lips  were  opened  for  a  refusal. 
Maria's  eyes  were  dancing  with  fun.  Mrs. 
Munroe  was  regarding  her  with  a  vexed  air; 
she  herself  had  just  given  a  somewhat  un 
gracious  refusal.  Ermina  had  never  tried  to 
pray  before  any  one  in  her  life.  Judging  from 
what  you  know  of  her  daily  living,  perhaps 
you  can  tell  how  much  she  was  accustomed 
to  daily,  searching  private  prayers.  Of  course 


A  Puzzling  Discussion.  275 

ehe  would  refuse.  But  there  came  just  then, 
strangely  enough,  to  her  mind  a  sentence  that 
Mr.  Harper  had  let  drop  in  her  hearing  but 
a  few  days  before.  "  One  reason  why  our 
friends  are  not  converted  is  because  we,  their 
leaders,  walk  so  crookedly  that  we  keep  them 
all  the  time  stumbling  over  us."  Was  Maria 
stumbling  over  her ?  "I  don't  know  whether 
I  am  a  Christian  or  not,"  said  Ermina  to  her 
self;  "but  I  profess  to  be  one;  and  whether 
I  am  or  not,  it  can't  hurt  me  to  pray.  Now 
I'm  pot  naturally  timid,  why  should  I  be  afraid 
to  try  ? "  All  this  in  a  second  of  time ;  then 
she  said  to  Mrs.  Clay,  with  great  composure 
in  her  voice,  "  I  never  did  such  a  thing  in 
my  life ;  but  I  presume  it  won't  hurt  me.  I'll 
do  it."  And  she  moved  forward  to  where 
the  formidable  pulpit  Bible  awaited  her.  Open 
ing  it  at  random,  and  beginning  to  read  in 
haste  to  cover  her  confusion,  she  presently 
found  herself  in  the  midst  of  words  like  these: 
"He  hath  not  dealt  with  us  after  our  sins, 
nor  rewarded  us  according  to  our  iniquities. ' 
An  almost  overpowering  sense  of  the  truth 
of  this  sentence  came*  upon  her.  What  if  God 
had  dealt  with  her  according  to  her  sins!  "As 
far  as  the  east  is  from  the  west,  so  far  hath 
he  removed  our  transgressions  from  us."  How 
tender  and  precious  arid  patient  were  the  words! 


276  Household  Puzzles. 

She  had  never  noticed  them  closely  before; 
her  heart  melted  over  them.  "Like  as  a 
father  pitieth  his  children,  so  the  Lord  pitieth 
them  that  fear  him."  To  one  who  had  a 
lather  like  Ermina  Randolph's  that  verse  meant 
a  great  deal.  She  stopped  with  that,  feeling 
that  she  at  least  had  had  enough.  She  said, 
with  a  quiet  voice,  but  with  a  tumultuous 
heart,  "Let  us  pray,"  and  felt  rather  than 
saw  that  the  ladies  were  kneeling  around  her. 
On  her  tenth  birthday  Ermina  had  learned 
and  recited  to  her  father  certain  verses.  The}' 
came  back  to  her  now.  Very  slowly,  very 
solemnty,  she  repeated  them :  •'  Create  in  me 
a  clean  heart,  O  God ;  and  renew  a  right 
spirit  within  me.  Cast  me  not  away  from  thy 
presence,  and  take  not  thy  Holy  Spirit  from 
me.  Restore  unto  me  the  joy  of  thy  salva 
tion;  and  uphold  me  with  thy  free  spirit:  then 
will  I  teach  transgressors  thy  ways;  and  sin 
ners  shall  be  converted  unto  thee.  Deliver 
me  from  bloodguiltiness,  O  God  ;  thou  God  of 
my  salvation;  and  my  tongue  shall  sing  aloud 
of  thy  righteousness."  Just  here  she  stopped. 
What  wonderful  things  she  had  asked!  What 
solemn  things  she  had  promised  I  Did  she 
really  mean  them  ?  How  dare  she  say  more  ? 
A  solemn  silence  filled  the  house  for  a  mo 
ment,  and  then  with  one  more  sentence  from 


A  Puzzling  Discussion.  277 

lips  that  quivered,  "  God  forgive  me  aud  help 
me  for  Jesus'  sake,"  she  arose.  Every  word 
of  her  prayer  had  been  personal.  She  did  not 
notice  it;  she  did  not  even  take  time  to  think 
of  the  singularity  of  her  position ;  it  seemed 
to  her  at  the  moment  that  there  were  but 
two  beings  in  existence,  herself  and  God.  The 
buzz  of  conversation  commenced  again,  but  she 
stood  apart,  as  one  dazed.  It  seemed  to  her 
that  she  could  not  go  back  and  hem  the  strings 
for  that  white  apron ;  she  felt  as  if  she  must 
go  away  alone  and  repeat  those  words,  "  Cast 
me  not  away  from  thy  presence;  and  take 
not  thy  Holy  Spirit  from  me."  "If  only  T 
knew  whether  I  had  any  right  to  pray  at 
all,"  she  said,  pushing  the  hair  back  from  her 
throbbing  temples.  "  I  surely  thought  I  was 
a  Christian;  but  I  don't  know,  I  really  don't 
know  anything.  How  fearfully  solemn  those 
sentences  were ! " 

There  had  bee^  an  arrival  during  the  Bible- 
reading,  a  tall,  fair  lady,  in  a  plain  black  suit. 
She    was    evidently   a  person  of  some   import 
ance,  for  respectful  and  curious  glances  followed 
her  as  she  moved  to  and  fro.     Something  about 
her  face  attracted   Ermina.     She   leaned  down 
to  her  friend  Nettie  Thatcher  and  said, — 
"Who  is  that  woman  with  eyes?" 
"  With   eyes !  "    said   Nettie,   laughing.     "  la 


278  Household  Puzzlet. 

there  only  one  person  in  the  room  meriting 
that  description  ?  " 

"Z  don't  see  but  one.  If  you  want  any 
thing  more  descriptive,  she  is  talking  with  Mis. 
Colonel  Hitchcock." 

"  Oh,  that  is  Mr.  Harper's  sister." 

About  that  time  the  lady  in  question  said, 
abruptly, — 

"I  beg  your  pardon,  Mrs.  Hitchcock,  but 
tell  me  the  name  of  the  lady  who  offered 
prayer." 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

LIGHT. 

HERE   is  one   young  lady  in   that  so 
ciety  that  I  attended  yesterday,  War 
ren,    who   needs   my    help,"    said    Mrs. 
Laport,  as  she  stirred  her  coffee  slowly 
and  thoughtfully. 
"  Only  one  ! f'   answered  Mr.   Harper,  laugh 
ing.     "  I  expected  you  to  find  at  least  a  dozen." 
"  There  were  interesting  faces ;  but  this  one 
is  in  trouble." 
"Who  is  she?" 

"Her  name  is  Randolph.  I  did  not  learn 
much  more  about  her.  Mrs.  Hitchcock,  with 
whom  I  was  sitting,  seemed  to  know  very 
little  about  her." 

"  Which  of  the  Randolphs  is  she  ?  " 
"  Are  there  two  of  them  ?     I  saw  only  this 
one.     She  led  the  devotional  exercises." 
Mr.  Harper  opened  his  eyes  very  wide. 

279 


280  Household  Puzzlet. 

"I  Jo  not  know  which  of  them  it  can  be," 
he  said,  quickly.  *'  Grace  and  Maria  are  neither 
of  them  Christians,  and  Miss  Ermina  —  Ah,  I 
know;  it  was  probably  their  cousin,  Miss  Faith." 

"  It  was  Ermina,"  Mrs.  Laport  said,  posi 
tively.  "  I  remember  hearing  some  one  speak 
her  name." 

"  I  don't  think  it  could  have  been,"  her 
brother  answered,  quite  as  positively.  "  I  am 
sure  she  would  never  have  led  in  devotional 
exercises.  You  have  mixed  the  people  up.  It 
was  some  other  young  lady." 

"  Warren,  I  never  mix  up  a  face  that  looks 
just  as  hers  did  ;  and  I  want  to  meet  her.  You 
must  take  me  to  call." 

"  In  the  evening  ?  " 

"Why,  no;  you  know  I  don't  go  out  even 
ings  just  now." 

"  She  is  engaged  during  the  day.  She  is  a 
sewing  girl." 

"Is  she?  Then  she  must  come  to  me.  She 
can  come  to  tea,  and  have  a  quiet  little  even 
ing  with  me  afterward ;  and  j'ou'll  see  that 
she  gers  home.  Won't  you,  Warren  ?  " 

"  I  could,"  said  Mr.  Harper,  quietly.  "But, 
Louise,  there  are  people  who  will  think  it  very 
strange  in  you  to  single  out  one  young  lady, 
and  invite  her  to  tea,  while  you  ignore  all  the 
others." 


Light.  281 

"  Warren,"  said  Mrs.  Laport,  as  she  pushed 
away  her  empty  coffee  cup,  "I  don't  mean  to 
ignore  anybody;  and  you  know  I  don't  care 
for  what  'they'  think  about  my  doings.  You 
will  manage  this  matter  for  me,  will  you  not?  " 

"Why,  I'll  try,"  replied  Mr.  Harper,  as  he 
arose.  "  But,  Louise,  you  keep  me  in  perpetual 
wonderment  as  to  what  out-of-the-way  thing 
you  will  require  of  me  next." 

Mrs.  Laport  smiled  as  she  responded,  "  An 
effort  to  help  any  one  who  needs  help  ought 
not  to  be  an  out-of-the-way  matter." 

So  it  came  about  that  Erraina  Randolph, 
standing  before  her  mirror — the  same  in  which 
Helen  had  so  complacently  surveyed  herself 
in  the  lavender  silk, —  combed  out  the  dark 
hair,  while  Mrs.  Munroe  sat  by  the  window, 
with  a  discontented  expression  on  her  fair  face. 
Presently  she  asked, — 

"Ermina,  how  in  the  world  did  she  come 
to  invite  you  to  tea  ?  " 

"She  didn't  come.  It  was  Mr.  Harper  who 
came." 

«  Well  —  Mr.  Harper,  then  ?  " 

"  He  came  on  foot,  I  think,"  said  Ermina, 
provokingly. 

"Don't  talk  nonsense,"  was  Mrs.  Munroe's 
impatient  remark.  "  You  understand  what  I 
mean.  How  happened  she  to  single  you  out 
for  the  favor  ?  " 


282    .  Household  Puzzles. 

"I  Lave  not  the  honor  of  the  lady's  confi 
dence  to  the  degree  that  enables  me  to  answer 
that  question.  All  I  know  is  that  Mr.  Harper 
invited  me,  in  his  sister's  name,  and  I'm  going 
if  I  ever  get  ready." 

"  Well,  all  I  have  to  say  is,  don't  be  too 
sure  of  a  good  time.  The  old  aunt  will  take 
you  in  from  head  to  foot." 

"  Oh,  didn't  I  tell  you  Mrs.  Laport  is  board 
ing  at  the  Sage  House.  Mr.  Harper  said  that 
his  sister  was  unwilling  to  add  to  her  household." 

Mrs.  Munroe  toyed  listlessly  with  the  curtain 
tassel,  admiring  the  dainty  fingers  set  off  with 
brilliant  jewels,  but  the  dissatisfied  expression 
still  lingered. 

"  How  do  you  happen  to  know  so  much 
about  her  affairs  ?  Who  told  you  ?  " 

**  Mr.  Harper  did." 

"  He  seems  to  be  very  communicative.  He 
must  think  you  are  immensely  interested  in  what 
concerns  them." 

"It  was  a  remarkable  thing  that  he  should 
tell  me  to  come  to  the  Sage  House  to  tea,  in 
stead  of  going  a  mile  out  to  his  aunt's,  and 
then  add  to  it  that  his  sister  wouldn't  .allow 
their  aunt  to  have  any  more  company,  and  so 
boarded  in  town." 

"She  isn't  his  sister  at  all.  She  is  only  a 
half  sister." 


Light.  283 

"I  can't  help  it.  He  told  me  where  she 
boards,  if  she  isn't  his  sister.  And  they  think 
as  much  of  each  other  as  if  they  were  double 
brother  and  sister  instead  of  half.  Pin  this 
ribbon,  won't  yo  j,  Helen  ?  I  am  late,  but  I 
told  them  I  couldn't  come  from  my  sewing  until 
six." 

"You  must  drag  in  your  sewing  at  every 
possible  moment.  What  was  the  use  of  saying 
that?" 

Ermina  laughed. 

"I  don't  drag  it  in,"  she  said,  good  hu- 
moredly.  "  It  drags  me.  There  is  no  getting 
away  from  it,  either  physically  or  mentally." 

"  We'll  go  down  to  the  hotel  table,  shall 
we  not?"  Mrs.  Laport  asked,  as  the  gong 
sounded.  "  Would  you  like  it  better  than  tea 
in  my  room  ?  " 

"Yes,"  said  Ermina,  speaking  out  her  mind 
as  usual.  "I  never  took  tea  at  a  splendid 
hotel.  I  should  like  it." 

"  Everything  is  very  pleasant  about  the  house, 
and  there  are  some  very  pretty  ladies  among 
the  boarders.  Do  you  like  to  look  at  pretty 
faces?" 

"  Yes,"  said  Ermina,  smiling,  "  I  like  to ; 
but  I  didn't  suppose  it  was  proper  to  say  so." 

*'  Why  in  the  world  shouldn't  you?" 

"Oh,   I   don't   know.      I   thought  we  must 


284  Household  Puzzle*. 

be  indifferent  to  beauty  —  superior  to  it,  you 
know  " 

"  I  hope  never  to  become  so,"  Mrs.  Laport 
said,  laughing.  "  Why,  dear  friend,  don't  you 
suppose  there  will  be  wonderful  beauty  in 
heaven  ?  " 

"  I  don't  know,"  Ermina  said,  her  face  sud 
denly  clouding.  "  I  know  precious  little  about 
heaven,  and  what  I  do  know  has  extremely 
little  to  do  with  beauty.  But  your  question 
in  some  way  reminds  me  of  what  your  brother 
said  we  must  ask  you." 

"  What  is  that  ?  I  hope  he  isn't  trying  to 
puzzle  me.  He  is  very  fond  of  that  occupation." 

"It  is  we  who  are  puzzled  —  my  cousin  Faith 
and  I.  You  were  to  enlighten  us.  It  is  the 
old  question  of  expenditure  —  where  necessities 
end  and  luxuries  commence,  and  how  far  tastes 
are  to  be  gratified  ?  Whether  starving  bodies 
and  souls,  or  aesthetic  tastes,  are  to  be  upper 
most?" 

Mrs.  Laport  drew  a  long  breath. 

"  It  is  an  immense  question,"  she  said.  "  I 
don't  wonder  you  were  bewildered.  I  know 
I  often  am.  I  hardly  know  \vhy  Warren 
should  have  sent  you  to  me.  It  is  one  of 
my  puzzles.  In  fact,  I'm  right  in  the  midst 
of  it.  I  struggled  over  it  terribly,  until  I  sud 
denly  discovered  that  what  made  it  so  strangely 


Light.  285 

complicated  was,  I  was  trying  to  solve  it  for 
everybody.  When  I  stopped  that,  and  went 
to  work  in  my  own  little  corner  of  it,  it  was 
still  sufficiently  confusing,  but  not  nearly  so 
bad." 

Ermina  looked  with  a  steady,  earnest  gaze 
at  the  earnest  face  before  her. 

"I  wish,"  she  said,  speaking  with  intense 
energy,  "I  wish  I  could  ask  you  ever  so 
many  questions." 

"  You  may.  I  like  to  ask  questions  myself. 
I'm  always  doing  so.  I  give  you  the  right 
to  ask  me  any  question  you  please." 

"  Then  I  don't  think  you  understand  what 
I  mean.  It  is  like  this  —  for  instance,  you 
have  a  silk  dress  on  ?  " 

"  I  understand  you  perfectly  —  why  don't  I 
wear  a  calico  instead?  That  is  one  of  my  be 
wilderments.  In  the  first  place,  then,  I  have 
to  go  to  places  where  people  would  think  that 
I  insulted  them  if  I  came  in  so  simple  a  dress." 

"  But  why  should  they  ?  If  everybody  wore 
them,  think  of  the  saving !  " 

"  I  know  it ;  but  now  you  see  you  are  try 
ing  to  straighten  other  people's  tangles.  Every 
body  wont,  and  you  and  I  can't  make  them. 
We  have  to  take  the  world  as  we  find  it. 
So  you  must  grant  me  that  I  thought  I  ought 
to  have  a  nice  dress.  Now  for  the  rest  of 


286  Household  Puzzles. 

the  story.  I  made  my  dress  something  of  a 
study.  I  paid  a  great  deal  for  it.  In  the 
first  place,  I  got  it  of  Mr.  Humpton.  It  is 
not  fashionable  to  trade  there.  Mr.  Hampton 
is  a  young  man.  He  cannot  buy  largely.  He 
hasn't  an  immense  variety.  He  is  struggling 
to  do  business  on  perfectly  strict  principles, 
which  makes  his  progress  much  slower.  I  buy 
my  dresses  there  for  all  these  reasons.  I  know 
I  have  helped  Mr.  Hampton  more  in  buying 
silk  than  in  buying  calico.  Then  I  had  it  made 
at  Kate  Morgan's.  She  is  a  quiet  little  sewing 
girl,  who  has  nice  taste  and  conscientious  princi 
ples.  Nobody  would  trust  her  with  their  silk 
dresses  to  make.  They  gave  her  their  calicoes, 
and  calicoes  are  not  profitable  dresses  to  make, 
for  the  reason  that  being  only  calico,  people 
will  not  pay  much  for  having  them  made.  I 
give  her  my  silks.  She  does  them  well,  and 
others  are  discovering  it." 

*k  I  see,"  said  Ernaina,  gravely.  "  There  is 
a  principle  underlying  it  all.  It  is  the  first  time 
I  ever  imagined  that  there  could  be  any  prin 
ciple  in  silk  dresses." 

"  Then  there  is  another  view  of  it,  you 
know.  My  silk  dress  costs  much  more  than 
a  pretty  cambric,  but  it  will  last  much  longer." 

"  I  know.  But  if  such  expensive  materials 
could  be  utterly  banished,  wouldn't  there  be 
a  saving  of  money  ?  " 


Light.  287 

"I  don't  feel  quite  sure,  even  of  that,  be 
cause  as  soon  as  you  make  it  fashionable  not 
to  wear  silk  and  poplin,  and  take  up  cambrics 
and  muslins,  they  immediately  become  the  fash 
ionable,  and  so  the  expensive  goods.  That 
belongs  to  other  people's  part  of  the  confusion, 
the  part  which  we  cannot  control.  And  now, 
my  dear,  the  second  gong  is  sounding.  We 
must  go  down  to  tea.  I  shall  be  ready  for 
the  other  questions  when  we  return." 

"I  don't  need  to  ask  them,"  Ermina  said, 
smiling.  "  I  can  pick  it  out  for  myself.  I 
see  it  is  a  regular  geometrical  problem,  but 
based  on  a  real  foundation,  and  I  can  study 
it  out.  Only  this  —  is  there  —  or  do  you  ar 
range  all  your  expenses  in  the  same  way  ?  " 

"I  try  to.  Bonnets  are  to  be  bought  of 
those  who  are  trying  to  make  honest,  honor 
able  bonnets,  and  who  are  meeting  with  diffi 
culties  and  reverses.  There  are  such  people 
everywhere,  if  only  you  will  take  the  trouble 
to  look  for  them." 

"But,  Mrs.  Laport,  I  couldn't  work  from  your 
standpoint.  I  haven't  the  money." 

"  It  is  not  my  standpoint  that  you  ought  to 
work,  from,  my  friend.  You  have  a  foothold, 
and  should  have' an  outlook  of  your  own.  Two 
persons  hardly  ever  commenced  at  the  same 
point  to  work  out  an  intricate  pattern  in  em- 


Household  Puzzles. 


broidery,  but  the  work  is  the  same  when  com 
pleted.  Your  motto  and  mine,  and  the  motto 
of  all  Christ's  followers,  is  alike,  '  Whatsoever 
ye  do,  do  all  to  the  glory  of  God.'  ' 

"  I  don't  see  how  my  long  and  short  seams 
that  I  am  perpetually  making  on  a  sewing  ma 
chine  can  glorify  God,  I'm  sure,"  Ermina  said, 
somewhat  moodily,  as  she  followed  her  hostesa 
down  the  long  winding  stairs. 

"  Don't  you  ?  "  Mrs.  Laport  said,  smiling  back 
at  her  from  the  first  landing.  "  If  you  are 
careful  that  the  machine  skips  no  stitches, 
leaves  no  treacherous  ends  of  thread,  and  is, 
in  short,  as  perfect  in  its  work  as  you  can 
make  it,  do  you  not  prove  that  you  are  a 
conscientious  worker,  and  is  riot  a  proven,  con 
scientious  Christian  glorifying  God  in  the  spot 
where  he  has  placed  her  ?  " 

Ermina  laughed. 

"  That  would  make  glorified  work  of  the 
very  sweeping  and  dusting  and  dish-washing 
of  life,  if  only  one  could  feel  it,"  she  said,  trying 
to  speak  lightly;  but  her  eyes  shone  a  little 
as  she  added,  in  a  softened  voice,  "  It  is  beau 
tiful  theory,  anyhow." 

"It  is  more  than  theory,"  Mrs.  Laport  said, 
emphatically.  "It  is  Bible.  'Do  all  to  the 
glory  of  God.'  There  ?nust  be  a  way  to  make 
the  glory." 


Light.  289 

This  was  not  the  most  important  conversa 
tion  that  occurred  during  that  evening.  The 
talk  which  had  the  most  to  do  with  Ermina's 
life  during  -all  her  future,  had  its  summing  up 
in  a  few  sentences  which  Mr.  Harper  spoke  as 
he  walked  with  her  down  the  brightly  lighted 
streets  of  the  city. 

"Did  you  receive  any  enlightenment  in  re 
gard  to  the  question  which  puzzled  you  when  I 
met  you  down  town?"  he  asked;  and  Ermina 
was  prompt  with  her  answer. 

"  On  that  and  on  many  other  questions.  Yes, 
there  is  light,  but  it  doesn't  light  me.  Such  talk 
is  utterly  new  to  me.  I  never  knew  that 
Christianity  meant  so  much.  I  know  it  means 
nothing  of  the  kind  to  me,  so  I  cannot  be  a 
Clfristian  at  all." 

Unconsciously  to  herself,  perhaps,  Ermina  had 
been  hiding  behind  this  shadow,  feeling  that 
somehow  it  lessened  the  weight  of  pain  and 
responsibility.  If  such  living  was  Christianity, 
why,  then  it  could  not  be  that  she  was  a  Chris 
tian  ;  if  she  were  not,  why,  then  she  could  not  be 
axpected  to  live  according  to  the  Christian  rule; 
but  she  had  been  a  professor  of  religion  for  ten 
years ;  people  thought  of  course  she  was  a  Chris 
tian.  She  expected  Mr.  Harper  to  say  something 
of  the  sort,  and  she  was  prepared  to  combat  his 
words,  to  prove  to  him  that  such  living  as  hers 
19 


290  Householl  Puzzles. 

could  not  be  called  by  that  honored  name  ;  and 
then  she  hoped  and  believed  that  he  would  assure 
her  that  there  were  different  degrees  of  attainment 
in  the  Christian  life,  that  all  could  not  be  expected 
to  live  alike,  and  so  soothe  the  pain  and  unrest  of 
her  weary  life.  She  was  not  prepared  for  the 
quiet,  gentle,  penetrating  question, — 

"  Do  you  not  wish  to  be  ?  " 

How  simple  the  question  was,  and  yet  how 
strangely  solemn  !  Did  she  ?  She  felt  the  thrill 
of  her  own  repeated  query  in  every  nerve.  Oh, 
she  certainly  did — wished  it  so  much  that  she 
wanted  the  privilege  of  clinging  to  the  miserable 
little  rag  of  hope  that  she  had. 

"You  know  if  you  do,"  he  said,  not  waiting 
for  her  audible  answer,  "  the  way  is  so  simple 
and  plain  before  you  ;  in  one  sense  it  is  of  very 
little  consequence  whether  you  were  a  Christian 
yesterday  or  not;  the  important  point  is,  will 
you  be  one  to-night  ?  " 

"To-night?"  she  repeated.  How  strangely 
that  narrowed  one  down.  Why  didn't  he  say  to 
morrow? —  that  was  so  near  at  hand,  and  yet  it 
gave  one  a  breathing  space.  He  answered  the 
thought  embodied  in  the  tones  of  her  voice. 

"  Yes,  to-night,  because  to-morrow  is  not 
yours.  It  is  a  very  commonplace  expression, 
yet  did  you  ever  think  how  true  it  was?  Did 
you  ever  think  of  the  many  commonplace,  ap- 


Light.  291 

parent  trifles  around  you,  either  of  which  might 
cause  your  death  in  a  moment  ?  I  sometimes 
think  of  them,  and  try  to  calculate  their  number, 
until  I  am  amazed  that  we  escape  them  and 
live  on.  Now  if  you  really  are  uncertain  as  to 
whether  the  question  between  3rou  and  God  is 
unsettled,  it  is  folly  in  you  to  be  unafraid  of 
death.  You  are  a  reasonable  being,  you  have 
perceptive  faculties,  therefore  with  the  moment 
ous  question  of  life  unsettled,  of  course  you  are 
afraid  to  go  away  from  life.  If  there  were  no 
other  motive  to  prompt  you,  this  reasonable  fear 
of  being  called  before  you  are  ready  to  answer 
should  lead  you  to  determine  the  question  to 
night.  Will  you?" 

They  stood  on  the  doorstep  now,  and  Ermina. 
Randolph  will  never  forget  the  throbs  of  her 
heart  as  she  waited  trying  to  answer  the  ques 
tion  to  her  own  heart.  Her  intense,  positive 
nature  shrank  from  committals  of  any  sort.  He 
varied  the  question  a  little. 

"  Will  you  tell  me  your  decision  the  next 
time  I  meet  you?  —  and  neither  of  us  are  able 
to  tell  so  simple  a  thing  about  our  lives  as  when 
or  where  that  will  be." 

The  question  seemed  almost  as  hard  to  answer 
as  the  other;  but  she  answered  it  after  a  little 
with  a  steady,  resolute  ring  in  her  voice, — 

"  Yes,  I  will." 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

A  DISCUSSION  CLOSED. 

'HERE  is  no  use  in  continuing  this  dis« 
cussion,  Mr.  Monroe.  I  am  quite  de 
cided  as  to  my  views." 

"  Discussion  !  "  repeated  Mr.  Munroe, 
speaking  a  little  crossly ;  his  fine  temper 
was  being  somewhat  injured  by  the  atmosphere 
of  his  home  life.  *'  It  might  as  well  be  contin 
ued  on  that  subject  us  any  other.  We  live  in 
a  state  of  discussion  from  week  to  week." 

"  I  am  quite  willing  to  discontinue  it  when 
ever  it  shall  please  you  to  give  me  a  chiince : 
but  as  for  living  in  this  disgusting  fashion  any 
longer  I  simply  am  not  going  to  do  it.  I  did 
not  promise  to  marry  a  drunkard,  and  I  have 
no  intention  of  being  a  drunkard's  wife." 

They  were  at  the  tea-table,  and  Mr.   Mun 
roe  set  down  his  cup  with  a  ring,  and  spoke 
sternly, — 
•M 


A  Discussion  Closed.  293 

"  It  would  puzzle  me,  Helen,  to  tell  what 
you  did  many  me  for.  It  couldn't  have  been 
for  love,  though  your  promises  were  solemn 
enough;  but  I  suppose  they  amount  to  about  as 
much  as  other  promises  made  in  church.  I'll  be 
hanged  if  you  ever  gave  me  reason  to  think  you 
wasted  such  a  commodity  as  love  on  me.  If 
you  wanted  my  money  instead  of  me,  why,  I'm 
sure  I  give  you  enough  of  that.  Now  why  can't 
you  be  content  and  let  a  fellow  alone  ?  " 

"  Because,  as  I  said  before,  whatever  other 
foolish  thing  I  may  have  done,  I  did  not  marry  a 
drunkard,  and  I  will  not  be  a  drunkard's  wife. 
I  hope  you  understand  me." 

"I  have  heard  you  talk  often  enough  to  under 
stand  you.  You  certainly  do  not  obscure  your 
meaning  with  tender  words.  I'm  not  sure  but 
it  would  be  policy  to  be  a  drunkard  out-and-out; 
at  least  I  couldn't  be  expected  to  listen  to  dis 
cussions." 

"  Suppose  you  try  it,"  Mrs.  Munroe  said,  with 
flashing  eyes,  but  perfect  composure  in  her  voice. 
"  Try  it  twice  more,  and  see  how  quickly  I  will 
leave  your  establishment  to  take  care  of  itself. 
I'm  thankful  that  I  have  a  home  and  a  father." 

Mr.  Munroe  arose  suddenly ;  his  wife's  com 
posed  words  seemed  to  sting  his  heart. 

"  Perhaps  you  would  like  to  try  it,"  he  said, 
ingrily.  "  I'm  not  sure  that  you  would  care, 


294  Household  Puzzles. 

provided  I  had  to  keep  your  purse  full.  I  don't 
know  but  we  would  both  be  happier.  This  is  a 
villainous  sort  of  life  to  live  anyhow." 

"  I'll  move  across  the  street  to  live,  if  you 
think  you  will  find  it  more  agreeable ;  and  I 
shall  in  any  case  if  you  come  home  once  more  in 
the  state  that  you  were  last  night." 

"  Oh,  come,  Helen,  don't  talk  to  a  fellow  that 
way.  It  was  mean  treatment,  and  I'm  ashamed 
of  it.  I  told  you  so  at  the  time.  I'm  trying 
hard  enough  to  keep  away  from  the  cursed  temp 
tation,  but  I  need  your  help.  I  married  you, 
Helen,  because  I  loved  you,  and  I  need  you. 
This  is  my  time  of  trial.  You  needn't  think 
I  am  not  struggling,  for  I  am.  You  will  help 
me?"' 

A  very  pleading  sound  his  voice  had,  but  the 
world  had  gone  awry  with  his  wife  that  day ;  the 
dressmaker  had  failed  in  making  a  good  fit,  and 
so  injured  an  elegant  dress  which  couldn't  be 
matched  ;  so  she  answered  the  pleading  voice 
still  coldly. 

"  I  can  only  say  that  it  is  a  very  strange  sort 
of  love  that  exhibits  itself  in  coming  home  in  an 
idiotic,  disgusting  condition  of  mind  and  body. 
I  would  advise  you  not  to  repeat  an  experiment, 
of  that  kind  —  it  might  be  once  too  often.'* 

"  Then  I'll  go  and  try  it."  He  spoke  an 
grily,  all  the  gentleness,  all  the  pleading,  gone 


A  Discussion  Closed.  295 

yul  of  his  voice ;  and  immediately  he  went  out, 
banging  the  door  after  him. 

It  might  have  been  two  hours  afterward,  it 
might  have  been  longer — Mrs.  Munroe  nevei 
knew  quite  what  time  it  was, —  that  there  was  a 
sound  of  subdued  voices  in  the  hall,  a  kind  of 
suppressed  confusion.  She  stepped  at  once  to 
the  door  and  met  Mr.  Harper ;  behind  him  were 
men  and  a  burden.  Mr.  Harper  pressed  forward 
to  intercept  her  step  and  words,  but  she  had 
nursed  herself  into  still  greater  rage  during  the 
intervening  hours,  and  Mr.  Harper's  presence 
only  served  to  anger  her  still  more. 

"  You  need  not  bring  him  here,"  she  said, 
losing  all  self-control.  "  As  long  as  I  am  mis 
tress  of  this  house,  it  shall  not  harbor  drunken 
men.  I  warned  him  of  the  consequences. 
Carry  him  around  the  corner  to  his  father's ;  let 
him  see  the  beautiful  son  he  has  brought  up." 

Her  eyes  were  blazing  with  excitement,  and 
her  whole  manner  was  indicative  of  one  who  had 
lost  all  self-control.  To  Mr.  Harper  it  was 
evident  that  prompt  and  decisive  measures  were 
necessary.  His  voice  sounded  almost  stern  in 
his  effort  at  self-control. 

"  Mrs.  Munroe,  you  mistake.  Your  husband 
is  dead." 

What  a  sudden,  terrible  sentence!  She  reeled, 
and  would  have  fallen  but  for  his  supporting 


296  Household  Puzzlet. 

arm.  He  pushed  open  the  parlor  door,  and 
helped  her  in,  motioning  at  the  same  time  to  the 
men  to  move  forward  with  their  burden. 

Once  in  the  parlor  Mrs.  Munroe  neither 
screamed  nor  fainted.  She  looked  frightened 
and  shocked,  but  not,  as  Mr.  Harper  had  ex 
pected,  utterly  overwhelmed.  She  sank  down 
in  the  nearest  chair,  and  spoke  quickly. 

"What  do  }rou  mean?  Is  he  really  dead? 
What  is  the  matter  ?  What  happened  ?  " 

**  It  is  quite  hopeless,"  Mr.  Harper  said,  avert 
ing  his  eyes  that  he  might  not  intrude  upon  her 
grief.  "  He  went  into  Barter's  about  an  hour 
ago.  Your  brother  said  he  was  in  a  state  of 
great  excitement,  had  been  drinking,  and  drank 
again.  From  there  he  went  back  to  his  own 
store,  and  Thomson,  feeling  alarmed  about  him, 
accompanied  him.  He  acted  strangely,  put  his 
hands  to  his  head,  said  he  guessed  he  had  done 
it  this  time,  and  more,  too,  referring,  your 
brother  thought,  to  some  transaction  that  trou 
bled  him.  Suddenly,  in  passing  from,  the  store 
to  the  office,  he  fell  in  what  we  thought  was  a 
fainting  fit,  but  it  proved  to  be  congestion, 
caused  by  some  unknown  excitement  and  —  and 
liquor." 

Mr.  Harper  judged  it  right  to  speak  the  whole 
truth  even  then.  He  added  but  a  sentence. 
"He  breathed  but  a  few  times,  and  did  not 


A  Discussion  Closed.  297 

speak  at  all ;  before  a  physician  reached  us  he 
was  dead." 

"  Dead  !  "  Mrs.  Munroe  repeated,  as  if  in  be 
wilderment.  "  Why,  that  isn't  possible !  It  is 
only  a  little  while  since  he  went  out  perfectly 
well,  and  I  said  —  O  God,  forgive  me !  I  wish  I 
had  said  anything  but  that." 

Mr.  Harper  stood  in  silence,  doubtful  what 
next  to  do  or  say. 

Mrs.  Munroe  sat  silent.  If  he  could  have 
looked  at  her  thoughts  they  would  have  read 
thus:  "How  dreadful  it  is!  Then  I  am  a 
widow,  and  I  have  been  married  so  short  a 
time.  1  wonder  what  I  shall  do  ?  I  suppose  I 
shall  have  to  go  home;  that's  what  I  said  to 
him.  I  wish  I  hadn't  said  that.  I  won't  go 
home.  I  couldn't  leave  all  my  nice  things  and 
live  in  that  wretched,  poky  old  house  again. 
I'm  Mrs.  Munroe,  and  I  belong  here.  I  shall 
stay,  and  have  some  one  live  with  me  ;  but  how 
strange  it  will  seem,  and  how  dreadful!  I'm 
young  to  be  a  widow.  I  shall  have  to  put  on 
black  again,  and  I've  had  it  off  so  short  a  time. 
Widows  wear  very  deep  mourning;  black  is 
very  becoming  to  me,  but  it  is  very  sad  to  have 
to  wear  it." 

And  this  was  all  that  Mrs.  Munroe  knew  about 
being  a  widow.  Do  you  think  that  Mr.  Harper 
would  have  stood  regarding  her  with  such  pitiful 


298  Household  Puzzles. 

eyes  if  he  could  have  read  those  thoughts?  1 
tell  you  the  pity  would  have  been  doubled,  yea, 
trebled.  To  be  a  widow,  when  that  word  ex 
presses  all  the  unutterable,  voiceless  agony  of  a 
soul  to  whom  life  seems  to  have  gone  out  in  the 
blackness  of  darkness,  is  pitiful.  But  to  be  a 
widow,  and  to  have  the  widowed  heart  know 
absolutely  nothing  of  the  blessed  love  that  brigh't- 
ens  all  the  past,  and  lights  up  the  gloom  of  the 
future,  that  is  bitterness  indeed.  But  Mrs. 
Muuroe  did  not  know  it ;  perhaps  this  but  in 
creased  the  weight  of  pity  that  a  strong,  true 
heart  would  feel  for  her.  She  broke  the  silence 
suddenly,  looking  up  at  Mr.  Harper  us  she 
spoke, — 

"  How  strangely  you  are  mixed  up  with  my 
life." 

It  seemed  such  a  strange  thing  to  say  at  thia 
time  ;  it  embarrassed  him,  he  hardly  knew  why. 

"  I  was  in  the  store  at  the  time,"  he  answered, 
in  a  low,  constrained  voice.  "Mrs.  Munroe 
what  are  your  commands?  What  can  I  do 
first?" 

Actually  the  worst  part  of  this  widow's  trial 
was  yet  to  come.  It  was  revealed  to  her  by 
Tom,  who  seemed  to  be  her  evil  genius ;  she  sat 
crouched  among  the  pillows  of  her  lounge,  a 
light  shawl  thrown  around  her,  and  occasionally 
she  shivered,  not  from  cold,  but  with  excitement 


A  Discussion  Closed.  299 

and  pain.  In  the  next  room  her  husband  lay  in 
his  coffin. 

"How  do  you  know  all  this?"  she  said  to 
Tom,  suppressed  excitement  in  her  voice. 

"  From  excellent  authority ;  your  respected 
father-in-law  took  the  trouble  to  enlighten  me." 

"  And  he  said  everything  WHS  gone  ?  " 

*'  Everything  belonging  to  Horace,  and  a  great 
deal  that  belonged  to  his  father.  You  know  the 
business  was  left  very  much  to  Horace,  and  his 
father  says  that  he  has  not  been  in  a  condition  to 
attend  to  business  for  some  time." 

"  Thanks  to  you,"  she  said,  with  flashing 
eyes.  "  Horace  was  always  running  down  to 
take  a  social  glass  with  you" 

But  that  his  heart  was  really  pitiful  for  her, 
Tom  could  have  laughed ;  the  idea  of  him  lead 
ing  Horace  Munroe  astray ! 

"  Helen,  that  is  pretty  hard  on  a  fellow,"  he 
said,  half  beseechingly.  "  I  could  tell  you  some 
solemn  truths,  if  it  would  do  any  good." 

"  I  don't  want  to  hear  your  truths,  nor  Any 
thing  else.  I  don't  believe  a  word  of  all  this. 
I'm  not  going  to  give  up  my  house,  and  go  to  live 
with  them,  and  be  ordered  about  by  Mrs.  Mun 
roe  ;  they  needn't  expect  it." 

"They  don't;  that  was  part  of  my  express 
direction  to  explain  to  you  that  the  family  were 
BO  situated  it  would  be  impossible  to  receive  you 


300  Household  Puzzles. 

there,  and  at.  it  was  equally  impossible  for  you  to 
stay  here,  your  only  alternative  would  be  to  go 
home.'' 

*'  And  what  am  I  to  live  on,  I  should  like  to 
know?" 

"  I  ventured  to  make  a  similar  inquiry,  and  he 
assured  me  he  would  do  all  that  he  could  for 
you,  but  it  would  become  necessary  for  you,- as 
well  as  for  themselves,  to  practise  the  most  rigid 
economy."  If  there  were  two  words  in  the 
English  language  that  Helen  Munroe  hated,  they 
were  those  two,  "  rigid  economy." 

"  I  don't  believe  a  word  of  it,"  she  said  again, 
more  sharply  than  before.  "  Why  need  you  come 
here  with  your  croaking?  You  roi_;ht  at  least 
have  waited  until  my  husband  was  buried  ;  he 
was  so  good  to  me;  he  was  the  only  friend  I 
ever  had." 

Part  of  this  sentence  angered  Tom,  part  of  it 
touched  him ;  his  answer  was  prompted  by  a 
mixture  of  both  feelings. 

"  It  was  not  a  task  I  coveted,  that  of  coming 
to  you  with  my  croaking ;  but  Mr.  Munroe  fool 
ishly  enough  imagined  me  to  be  the  proper  person 
to  break  the  tidings  to  you,  and  he  was  particular 
enough  in  having  it  done  before  he  met  you ;  he 
said  he  considered  it  wiser  for  all  parties.  He  is 
not  much  like  our  father,  and,  Helen,  the  trouble 
is  heavy  enough,  but  you  have  friends  left  and  a 
home  to  go  to." 


A  Discussion  Closed.  301 

"  Such  a  home  as  that  is! "  and  Mrs.  Munroe'a 
hp  curled  scornfully.  "  There  is  a  great  contrast 
between  that  home  and  this  one.  I  wonder  if 
you  think  I  can  ever  be  content  to  come  down  to 
that  sort  of  life  again  ?  " 

"It  is  better  than  nothing,"  Tom  said,  vexed 
again.  "  I  should  prefer  it  to  starvation,  and  I 
shouldn't  wonder  if  you  would  be  prevailed  upon 
to  take  up  with  it." 

Mrs.  Munroe  turned  her  head  wearily  toward 
the  wall. 

"  I  shall  have  to  take  up  with  anything  or 
nothing,"  she  said,  in  a  heavy,  dreary  tone.  "  I 
have  lost  my  friend,  my  one  friend."  And  then 
Tom's  heart  ached  for  her  again  ;  he  had  a  great 
longing  to  comfort  her. 

"  There  are  other  things  beside  this  life,"  he 
began,  awkwardly.  "  Other  hopes  and  friend 
ships,  I  suppose.  I  should  think  they  might 
be  a  comfort  at  such  a  time." 

His  sister  moved  restlessly  on  her  couch. 

"  Don't  talk  of  what  you  know  nothing  about," 
she  said,  impatiently.  "I  don't  believe  in  that 
sort  of  talk,  anyway." 

'•  What  sort  do  you  believe  in  ? "  he  asked, 
coolly,  his  sympathy  fast  oozing  away. 

"  No  sort  that  comes  from  you.  I  wish  you 
would  go  home," 

"I'm  going.     I'm  glad  to  have  been  able  to 


302  Household  Puzzles. 

see  how  beautifully  religion  sustains  and  upholds 
people  in  time  of  trial.  I've  heard  considerable 
about  it,  but  I  never  realized  it  as  forcibly  as  1 
do  now,"  and  Tom  Randolph  actually  went 
down  the  stairs  whistling  I  Maria  appeared  to 
him  from  one  of  the  rooms  below,  looking  re 
proving  volumes. 

"It's  not  quite  the  thing,  I  admit,"  he  said,  in 
answer  to  her  look.  "  But  a  fellow  sometimes 
whistles  when,  but  for  education  and  principle 
and  all  that,  he  might  swear.  Maria,  Helen  has 
got  to  come  home  to  live.  Now,  you  whistle  if 
you  can." 

"  Home ! "  Maria  «aid,  in  undisguised  dismay. 
"What  for?" 

"The  Munroe  property  has  gone  up  —  Horace's 
part  of  it,  anyway;  anrt  old  Munroe  says  the 
whole  is  going.  That  is  Ul  moonshine,  though. 
But  they  don't  feel  any  too  comfortable  toward 
her.  They  think  it  is  her  fault  that  he  went  to 
the  mischief  so  fast." 

"  O  Tom  !  you  didn't  tell  He'en  they  said  so?" 

"  It's  not  very  likely ;  though  I'll  admit  that  1 
was  horribly  tempted." 

"  Tom,  what  in  the  world  shall  ve  do?  "  Maria 
said,  going  back  to  the  astounding  and  painful 
revelation.  "  I  thought  she  would  live  on  here, 
and  perhaps  take  Grace  to  live  with  her.  Grace 
in  the  onlv  one  of  us  who  can't  possibly  earn  her 


A  Discussion  Closed.  803 

own  living.  If  worse  comes  to  worse,  I  could  hoe 
potatoes,  but  what  Grace  could  do  puzzles  me; 
and  now  that  planning  is  over  with.  What  shall 
we  do?" 

"  Whistle,"  said  Tom,  philosophically.  "  That 
is  all  there  is  left  to  do.  She's  got  to  come,  any 
how.  Don't  you  feel  the  force  of  the  elevating 
and  consolatory  influences  of  religion  that  they 
tell  about?  I  realize  it  more  and  more." 

"  There's  Faith,"  Maria  said,  thoughtfully. 

"  Bah  I  life  goes  as  smooth  with  her  as  a 
summer  day.  What  has  she  to  be  consoled 
about?" 

"  But  she  has  lost  all  her  friends,  you  know. 
No  one  left  but  Pearly." 

"Yes,  and  she  had  hysterics  every  day  for  a 
month,  I  presume ;  they  are  just  the  sort  to  get 
over  it  quickly." 

"  Well,  there's  father. 

"Yes,"  he  said,  "there's  father  —  that's  true. 
It's  a  puzzling  world." 

All  the  proprieties  were  observed  in  Mr.  Mun- 
roe's  funeral.  No  one  certainly  would  have 
imagined  that  the  firm  were  on  the  eve  of  failure, 
from  the  amount  of  money  lavished  on  the  quiet, 
senseless  clay  and  its  belongings.  His  widow 
was  shrouded  in  bombazine  and  crape  of  the 
Quest  texture,  and  everything  was  becomingly 
solemn  and  sombre. 


804  Household  Puzzle*. 

Ermina  stood  on  the  doorstep,  waiting  her  turn 
to  enter  the  carriage.  There  was  some  delay. 
Their  father  had  been  the  one  on  whom  the 
widow  was  to  depend  for  support ;  but  his 
strength  at  the  last  moment  had  proved  too  slight 
for  the  occasion  —  Mr.  Randolph  was  fast  drop 
ping  into  invalidism —  and  Tom  had  been  sum 
moned  hurriedly  from  Ermina's  side  to  attend 
his  eldest  sister.  During  the  delay  occasioned 
by  the  change  of  programme,  Mr.  Harper  came 
from  the  hall  and  stood  for  a  moment  beside  Er 
mina.  Instantly  she  remembered  what  his  last 
words  had  been  to  her.  How  little  either  had 
imagined  where  they  might  meet.  She  won 
dered  if  he  remembered  it.  Even  as  she  won 
dered  he  bent  slightly  toward  her,  and  spoke  low 

"  Is  the  decision  made  ?  " 

"  It  is,"  she  sa;d,  firmly.  "  It  is  body  and  soul 
this  time." 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 


THEOLOGY  IN  THE  KITCHEN. 

•RMINA  RANDOLPH  curled  herself  into 
as  much  of  a  heap  as  she  could,  and 
placed  a  cushion  for  her  head.  It  was 
Ermina's  nature  to  make  herself  comfort 
able,  if  the  thing  were  possible.  She 
was  in  Faith's  room,  making  her  and  baby  a 
little  visit.  It  was  one  of  those  cool  evenings 
when  grown-up  people  consider  it  their  duty  to 
shiver  around  the  house  with  little  shawls  over 
their  shoulders,  and  feel  it  a  positive  luxury  to 
have  a  baby  in  the  house,  to  furnish  an  excuse 
for  making  up  a  cheery  blaze  of  fire.  Pearly, 
on  the  floor,  was  cooing  over  the  firelight  shnd- 
ows,  and  Faith  sat  very  near  the  stove  to  shield 
the  grasping  hands  from  snatching  at  the  bright 
ness. 

20  305 


806  Household  Puzzles. 

"  Doesn't  it  go  right  ?  "  she  said,  in  answer  to 
Ermina's  long-drawn  sigh. 

44  Not  very,"  Ermina  said,  ending  the  sigh 
with  a  little  laugh.  4l  Things  look  mixed,  and 
life  seems  bewildering." 

44  It  has  its  bewildering  side,  I'll  admit,"  Fahh 
Baid ;  "but,  after  all,  that  is  generally  because 
we  want  to  admire  the  design  before  it  is 
finished.  What  is  the  superlative  of  your 
troubles  ?  " 

"  Why,"  Ermina  said,  laughing,  44  it  has  none, 
I  guess.  That  is  one  of  my  troubles.  A  real, 
definite,  tangible  superlative  would  be  encourag 
ing;  but  pin  pricks  and  mosquito  bites  seem  so 
insignificant  in  themselves;  yet,  after  all,  no  one 
enjoys  being  pricked  or  bitten." 

4*  Considering  myself  the  pin  that  does  the 
pricking,  who  or  wh.it  is  the  mosquito?" 

14  You  a  pin !  I  fancy  you  might  prick, 
though,  if  you  really  wanted  to.  I  don't  think 
you  are  one  of  the  softly  people ;  but  Helen, 
now,  is  a  real  mosquito.  Did  you  really  ever 
see  any  one  who  had  more  talent  than  she  has 
for  making  herself  miserable?" 

'•  I  should  think  it  would  require  a  great  deal 
of  grace  to  endure  some  things." 

44  Which  is  what  I  haven't,"  Ermina  said, 
gravely  and  sadly.  44  My  trouble  has  a  superla 
tive  after  all.  I'm  just  a  baby  in  the  Christian 


Theology  in  the  Kitchen.  307 

life-  jti&t  groping  and  feeling  my  waj>,  when  I 
might  be  walking  firmly  on  high  ground.  I've 
wastod  years  and  years." 

"  I  know.  The  thought  is  a  sad  one,  and  a 
solemn  one ;  yet  I  think  perhaps  Paul  meant 
that,  too,  when  he  said,  "  Forgetting  the  things 
that  are  behind."  I  suppose  he  made  failures, 
but  he  thought  that  Christ's  blood  was  powerful 
enough  to  atone  for  even  failures,  and  his  love 
strong  enough  to  forgive  them.  I  don't  imagine 
that  Paul  kept  looking  back  and  sighing  over 
them  after  Christ  had  forgiven  them.  Do 
you?" 

"  I  suppose  not.  Yet,  after  all,  it  doesn't 
seem  quite  the  thing  to  do  —  I  mean  for  me.  I 
suppose  it  was  all  right  enough  in  Paul  —  it  was 
of  course  —  for  he  was  inspired;  but  for  me,  I 
don't  kpow  but  past  shortcomings  ought  to  be 
kept  before  me  to  keep  me  humble." 

"  But  not  to  hinder  you,"  Faith  said,  quickly. 
"  When  Satan  begins  to  use  past  shortcomings 
as  a  chain  by  which  to  fetter  our  thoughts  to 
ourselves,  then  it  is  time  to  forget  them.  DC 
you  think  Paul's  inspiration  was  only  for  him 
self?  I  think  God  looked  ahead  and  said, 
'  There  are  Faith  Halstead  and  Ermina  Ran 
dolph,  they  will  need  the  same  kind  of  waiuing, 
or  explanation,  or  comfort  that  Paul  does.  J 
will  have  it  written  out  for  them." 


808  Household  Puzzles. 

Ermina  sat  erect,  letting  the  cushions  drop 
heedlessly  to  the  floor. 

"  Does  the  Bible  seem  like  that  to  you  ?  "  she 
said,  with  eager  eyes.  "  I  wish  it  did  to  me.  I 
mean  to  make  it  read  so.  Actually  written  for 
me !  It  is  pleasant,  but  very  queer." 

"I  don't  see  why,"  Faith  said,  stoutly.  "Of 
course  it  was  written  for  you.  Why,  the  very 
hairs  of  your  head  are  numbered,  the  least  little 
event  in  life  planned  for  your  good.  Is  that  any 
Jess  wonderful  than  that  God  thought  of  your 
-*eeds  when  he  directed  certain  words  to  be 
handed  down  to  you?" 

Ermina  looked  thoughtfully  at  her  cousin  and 
spoke  absently,  "  Your  Bible  is  like  Mr. 
Harper's!  " 

"  I  dare  say,  and  like  yours  and  Helen's  and 
every  one's,  if  only  we  will  not  try  to  make  it 
read  Hebrew  when  it  wants  to  read  plain 
English.  Is  there  anything  unusual  about  his 
Bible?" 

Only  that,  as  you  say,  it  seems  to  read  for 
him,  and  not  for  Paul  and  Peter  only ;  he  has 
strange  ideas ;  he  was  speaking  of  his  friends  in 
heaven,  and  I  ventured  to  ask  him  a  question 
that  has  puzzled  me  ever  so  much,  as  to  how  a 
husband,  for  instance,  could  be  entirely  bliss 
fully  happy  in  heaven,  while  his  wife  was  wait 
ing  in  loneliness  and  weariness  on  earth." 


Theology  in  the  Kitchen.  809 

"  What  did  he  say  ? "  Faith  asked,  speaking 
fa  lower  tones  and  shading  her  eyes  with  her 
hand,  for  here  was  her  weak  spot  in  the  chain ; 
this  seemed  hard  to  her  who  had  all  her  friends 
in  heaven  and  missed  them  sorely  and  sadly. 

"  He  said  I  had  forgotten  the  force  of  that  one 
word  '  eternity ;'  that  we  measured  time  by 
comparison.  If  my  friend  were  to  spend  a 
month  with  me,  an  hour  given  to  some  one  else 
would  seem  a  very  trifle ;  the  nearest  and  dear 
est  friends  you  know  can  be  separated  for 
several  months,  and  while  they,  of  course,  miss 
each  other,  they  can  still  enjoy  the  life  around 
them  and  be  happy  in  the  thought  of  the  coming 
together ;  he  spoke  of  that ;  he  told  me  of  his 
sister  going  to  Europe;  of  how  much  she  missed 
him,  yet  of  how  much  she  enjoyed  her  journey, 
and  what  delightful  letters  she  wrote  him  con 
cerning  it;  then  he  said  his  mother  had  been, 
twenty  years  in  heaven,  but  he  thought  that 
eternity  was  so  long,  so  long,  in  comparison  with 
twenty  years;  that  the  years  dwindled  into 
hours,  and  that  she,  looking  forward  over 
perhaps  twenty  years  more  of  separation,  said, 
'Only  a  day  or  two  more  and  my  son  will 
come.' " 

"  I  see,"  Faith  said,  still  with  shaded  eyes, 
and  a  voice  a  little  husky.  "  A  year  is  only  a 
half  hour  in  heaven.  I  had  not  thought  of  it  in 
just  that  light." 


310  Household  Puzzle*. 

Ermina  rose  up  from  her  cushions.  "  Well,'1 
she  said,  "  I've  had  my  crumb  of  help  and  com 
fort;  I'll  go  now  to  my  sewing.  I  brought  Mrs. 
El  wood's  dress  home  to  baste  eleven  ruffles  or. 
the  front  breadth." 

"  I  got  my  crumb,  too,"  Faith  said,  looking 
up  brightly.  "  So  you  see  we  had  an  exchange 
of  loaves." 

Maria  was  the  next  caller.  She  sat  on  the 
floor,  squarely  before  the  fire.  Maria  never 
took  the  time  to  put  herself  into  places  of  great 
comfort. 

"  What  a  solemn  face !  "  Faith  said,  gayly. 
"  Was  the  cake  heavy  ?  " 

"  No,  but  the  biscuit  was  sour." 

"  Why,  I  didn't  discover  it." 

"  They  were ;  just  a  trifle,  but  enough  to  evi 
dence  their  relationship  to  this  totally  depraved 
world.  I  wonder  that  any  one  has  difficulty  in 
accepting  the  doctrine  of  total  depravity. 
Housekeepers  certainly  ought  to  believe  in  it; 
the  way  apple  sauce  works,  and  bread  molds, 
and  milk  sours,  and  butter  grows  strong,  is  be 
wildering  and  distracting,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
way  in  which  the  ants  march  into  the  sugar,  and 
wretched  big  and  little  flies  pounce  upon  and 
devour  everything  they  can  touch  their  feet  to, 
and  dust  and  cobwebs  poke  themselves  ID 
everywhere.  I'm  sick  of  the  world." 


Theology  in  the  Kitchen.  811 

Faith's  laugh  rang  out  merrily.  "  What  a 
Bolemn  procession  of  troubles !  that  is  kitchen 
depravity,  I  think,  flies  and  bugs  and  cobwebs 
and  mold,  but  no  humanity." 

"  Humanity  !  plenty  of  it.  There  is  evidence 
enough  of  humanity  in  Helen  to  convince  me 
that  we  all  belong  to  that  miserable  old  Eve 
who  had  to  please  herself,  whatever  the  conse 
quences.  I  hope  I  shan't  have  to  be  on  friendly 
terms  with  her,  for  I  know  I  should  twit  her 
about  that  apple,  if  it  was  an  apple;  it  is  quite 
as  likely  to  have  been  a  lemon  for  all  I  know  to 
the  contrary.  Things  and  people  everywhere 
seem  awry,  and  that  is  the  whole  of  it.  I  can't 
help  thinking  I  could  have  made  a  better  world 
myself." 

*'  That  isn't  the  whole  of  it,  and  that  is  just 
where  you  and  I  make  mistakes ;  it  is  only  a 
little  tiny  corner,  and  the  rest  of  it  we  can't  see 
at  all.  Take  care,  Pearly !  No,  no,  Pearly 
musn't  touch.  You  can  see  how  wise  he  thinks 
he  is ;  the  blaze  of  the  fire  is  beautiful, 
and  he  is  determined  to  have  it  in  his  hand. 
He  thinks  I  am  a  cruel  old  ogre,  keeping  him 
from  happiness.  I  have  tried  all  the  evening  to 
convince  him  that  I  knew  more  about  it  than  he 
did,  and  I  have  been  wondering  whether  I 
shouldn't  have  to  let  him  burn  his  poor  precious 
little  hand,  just  a  tiny  bit,  to  convince  him  that 
there  is  danger  there." 


812  Household  Puzzles. 

"I  see  the  application  in  part,"  Maria  said, 
gloomily.  "  Only  I  was  talking  about  flies  and 
bugs — not  a  sign  of  a  bright  blaze  do  I  see." 

"And  I  was  talking  of  the  ignorance  of  both 
of  you,"  Faith  answered,  merrily.  "  You 
neither  of  you  see  but  an  inch  ahead,  and  3Tou 
think  you  see  and  know  all  about  it.  You  both 
think  you  could  manage  things  better  for  your 
self  if  you  could  be  let  alone." 

"What  do  yon  suppose  is  to  become  of. 
Tom  ?  "  Maria  asked  the  question  in  the  same 
half-petulant,  half-gloomy  tone  in  which  she  had 
all  the  time  been  talking.  The  transition  evi 
dently  did  not  seem  so  striking  to  her  as  it  did 
to  Faith.  "  Do  you  really  suppose  he  is  going 
to  be  a  drunkard  ?  He  is  pretty  nearly  that 
now  by  spells ;  but  I  mean  do  you  actually 
think  he  is  going  to  sink  down  to  that  hopeless- 

ly?" 

Faith's  face  grew  grave  and  her  voice  was 
serious. 

"  No,"  she  said,  firmly,  "  I  don't.  I  can't 
think  any  such  thing.  I  believe  he  is  to  be  res 
cued." 

"How?" 

"  I  don,t  know ;  God  knows,  and  I  have  no 
doubt  is  preparing  the  way.  Maria,  I  don't 
know  but  he  sees  that  he  will  have  to  let  Tom 
burn  his  hand." 


Theology  in  the  Kitchen.  813 

Maria  looked  up  quickly. 

"  You  mean  some  heavy  pain.  Through 
whom  could  it  come  ?  through  father  ? "  and 
she  shivered.  "  I  don't  want  that ;  it  seems  to 
to  me  that  God  might  make  him  learn  some 
other  way." 

"  I  can't  make  Pearly  learn,"  Faith  said, 
gently.  "  I  have  to  sit  between  him  and  the 
fire,  and  I  can't  always  do  that ;  sometimes  I 
shall  have  to  be  moving  about  the  room ;  it  will 
be  necessary  for  him  to  learn  that  there  is 
danger." 

"  But,  Faith,  you  are  not  God.  He  surely  has 
ways." 

"  I  think  so,  and  warning  of  danger  is  one  of 
his  ways." 

"  Horace's  death  might  have  served  for  the 
warning  one  would  think.  It  was  sudden  and 
sad  enough ;  but  then  Tom  doesn't  attribute 
that  so  much  to  liquor  as  he  does  to  Helen. 
Well,  I  don't  know  how  it  will  end;  but  it  does 
seem  hard  that  when  father  has  but  oue  son  he 
must  be  a  terror  and  a  misery  to  him  instead  of 
a  comfort." 

They  sat  in  silence  for  a  little,  except  for  the 
soft  cooing  between  Faith  and  Pearly  as  she 
changed  his  white  robe  for  his  "  sleepy  dress," 
and  cuddled  the  loving  little  head  on  her 
shoulder.  When  his  night-lullaby  had  been 


314  Household  Puzzles. 

sung  and  she  had  laid  him  among  the  pillows, 
she  came  back  to  the  girl  sitting  bolt  upright, 
with  folded  arms,  staring  into  iho  firelight. 

44  I  should  think  you  would  want  to  pray  for 
him,"  she  said,  slipping  down  besiile  her. 

"  What's  the  use  ?  "  Maria  answered,  coldly. 
44 1  never  could  see  that  praying  did  any  good. 
Father  has  been  praying  for  him  ever  since  he 
was  born.  I  hear  him  sometimes  at  night.  You 
and  I  couldn't  resist  such  prayers,  but  God  can. 
What  does  it  all  amount  to  ?  " 

44 1  don't  know,  nor  do  you,"  Faith  said, 
speaking  almost  sternly.  44  And  if  I  were  you  I 
wouldn't  dare  to  estimate  what  he  might  have 
been  without  those  prayers." 

44  But  what  are  you  going  to  do  about  the 
answer?  I  tell  you,  he  prays  half  the  night 
sometimes  for  Tool's  conversion,  whatever  that 
may  mean.  Anyway  it  means  something  that 
he  isn't.  What  can  you  say  to  that  ?  " 

44  Why,  there  is  plenty  to  say.  In  the  first 
place,  Tom  is  still  living.  There  is  no  proof  that 
God  doesn't  intend  to  answer  that  prayer ;  and 
there  will  not  be  until  he  dies  unconverted." 

44  Why  doesn't  he  answer  it  then  ?  " 

44 1   don't   know.     Suppose    you    ask   him?" 

In  spite  of  the  daring  way  in  which  she  had 
herself  been  talking,  Maria  looked  a  little 
startled  over  this  sentence. 


Theology  in  the  Kitchen.  815 

"  I'm  sure  I  don't  see  why  you  shouldn't," 
Faith  said.  "  You  like  consistency,  and  you  are 
quick  to  detect  inconsistencies  in  other  people. 
Does  it  never  occur  to  you  as  strange,  that  one 
who  professes  so  great  interest  in  Tom,  and 
anxiety  for  him,  should  never  make  any  attempt 
to  interest  the  Saviour  in  his  behalf?  It  might 
do  good,  you  know,  and  you  must  be  certain 
that  it  could  do  no  harm." 

"  There  wouldn't  be  much  faith  about  that 
kind  of  praying  I  should  think.  I  thought  faith 
was  an  important  item  in  prayer?" 

"  There  would  be  as  much  faith  as  you  seem 
to  possess,  and  it  is  possible  that  the  attempt  at 
prayer  might  increase  your  faith." 

"  I  don't  see  how  praying  can  do  any  good, 
and  never  did  see.  When  things  are  pre 
arranged  for  ages,  what  difference  does  it  make 
whether  I  pray  or  not  ?  How  can  it  make  any 
difference?" 

"J don't  know;  but  my  idea  of  God  is  that 
be  is  wiser  than  I  am.  I  presume  he  knows,  in 
deed  I  may  say  I  am  sure  of  it,  elso  he  never 
would  have  made  prayer  not  only  a  privilege, 
but  a  duty." 

"  Well,  but,  Faith,  are  people  called  upon  to 
believe  absurdities?  Take  Tom,  for  instance. 
If  God  knows  anything,  he  knows  that  Tom  will 
either  be  a  drunkard  or  he  will  not  be;  and 


816  Household  Puzzles. 

whichever  way  his  knowledge  reaches,  settles  the 
question.  Now  what  difference  will  it  make 
whether  I  pray  for  him  or  not? " 

"  Why  don't  you  reason  in  that  way  about 
other  matters  ?  " 

"I  do.  I  think  in  just  that  way  about  a 
thousand  things.  They  will  be,  or  they  will  not 
be,  in  spite  of  me,  and  I  might  as  well  sit  down 
and  await  their  development." 

"  Then  why  dont  you  ?  If  there  is  to  be 
bread  made  in  this  house  to-morrow,  there  will 
be,  whether  I  set  the  sponge  to-night  or  not,  so  1 
will  just  sit  down  and  await  its  development." 

"Because,"  said  Maria,  laughing  a  little, 
"  there  wouldn't  be  —  not  a  loaf  of  bread  made 
in  this  house  from  one  year's  end  to  another  if  I 
didn't  do  it." 

"Not  if  it  were  determined  upon  ages  ago?" 

u  Well,"  —  and  then  she  picked  up  a  stick  and 
poked  at  the  coals  —  "  it  doesn't  seem  the  same 
when  we  talk  about  our  bread-making  and  our 
sweeping." 

"  I  know  it  doesn't;  and  it  is  just  here  that 
we  make  our  greatest  blunders,  I  think.  Wr 
invest  everything  pertaining  to  religion  in  a 
hopeless  kind  of  mist,  and  then  we  sneer  at  it 
because  it  can  not  be  judged  according  to  the 
rules  of  common  sense." 

'*  Well,  just  tell  me  how  you  explain  any  of 


Theology  in  the  Kitchen.  817 

it  —  the  bread-making,  too,  if  you  will.  If  it  is 
really  ordered  that  I  am  to  make  bread  to 
morrow,  why,  I  shall  make  it,  whether  I  want  to 
or  not,  or,  rather,  whether  I  set  myself  about  it 
or  not." 

Faith  laughed. 

"  You  may  judge  for  yourself  whether  that 
sounds  like  your  favorite  word,  common  sense," 
she  said,  pleasantly.  "  But  I  understand  your 
meaning,  /don't  pretend  to  explain  it.  If  it 
were  ten  times  more  enveloped  with  mystery 
tlian  it  is,  I  should  still  believe  it  all,  for  God  my 
Father  has  put  his  seal  to  it;  but  when  I  want 
to  speculate,  I  find  no  difficulty  in  thinking  that 
he  could  have  foreseen,  and  therefore  predesti 
nated,  if  you  will,  your  ability  and  your  willing 
ness  to  make  bread  for  us,  and  that  your  reason 
and  your  common  sense  would  show  you  the 
need  for  doing  so." 

"  Then  why  should  not  my  reason  and 
common  sense  fores  me  into  doing  other  things 
that  I  ought  to  ?  " 

"I'm  sure  I  don't  know,"  Faith  answered, 
gravely.  "  It  is  a  question  over  which  I  have 
often  puzzled." 

Maria  laughed,  a  slightly  constrained  laugh; 
her  common  sense  showed  her  plainly  that  she 
had  shut  herself  into  a  very  narrow  corner. 
She  arose  suddenly  from  her  low  seat. 


318  Household  Puzzles. 

"You  may  not  think  it,"  she  said,  speaking 
earnestly,  "  but  I  am  very  anxious  about  Tom  — 
more  anxious  than  I  can  tell  you.  If  I  knew 
how  to  do  anything  earthly  or  unearthly  to  help 
him,  I  would.  The  great  trouble  is,  I  don't 
know  how.  I'm  sure  I  hope,  if  anything  is  to 
be  done  for  him,  it  will  be  done  promptly.  I 
don't  see  what  it  will  be,  though.  Meantime 
I'll  go  and  set  that  sponge.  I  know  how  to  do 
that,  at  least." 

And  that  which  was  to  touch  Tom  was  com 
ing  swiftly  all  the  time. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

GOD'S  MYSTERY  OP  GRACE. 

,E  was  tucked  into  the  carriage;  his  blue 
wrap  thrown  loosely  about  him,  for  the 
morning  was  cool ;  his  blue  afghan  cov- 
ered  his  feet,  a  blue  plume  nodded  in  his 
white  hat,  and  he  looked  a  very  prince 
among  his  subjects,  for  they  all  came  out  to  see 
him  off — Maria  with  her  broom  at  her  side, 
Grace  bringing  the  knife  with  which  she  was 
peeling  apples ;  even  Helen  left  her  sewing  and 
came  out  to  say  good-by  to  the  baby. 

"isn't  he  lovely  this  morning?"  Grace  said, 
kissing  him  energetically.  "  Where  are  you 
going,  Faith  ?  " 

"  We  are  going  to  rove  according  to  our  own 
wild  wills.  Where  we  will  go  is  all  unknown 
to  me,  and  when  or  how  we  will  return  is 
equally  involved  in  mystery." 

319 


320  Household  Puzzles. 

"  I  hope  I  shall  have  my  sweeping  done  before 
you  are  moved  to  come  back.  Don't  get  sleepy, 
Prince  Pearly,  until  the  house  is  in  order." 

"  Wish  us  joy  and  good  speed,"  Faith  said, 
merrily.  "'Perhaps  something  to  remember  aU 
our  lives  will  happen  to  us  before  we  return." 

"There  are  two  kinds  of  things  to  remember,' 
Helen  said,  grimly;  and  Faith  had  to  carry 
those  away  with  her  for  last  words. 

Down  the  sunny  side  of  the  street,  trundling 
along  in  a  flutter  of  life  and  joy,  went  Pearly. 
Not  a  bird  escaped  his  notice,  not  a  leaf  rustled 
that  he  did  not  hear.  Faith,  pushing  her  lovely, 
canopied  carriage  before  her,  chattering  in  sweet 
baby  fashion  to  her  darling,  felt  not  less  happy 
than  he.  A  still  happiness,  such  as  those  feel 
who  have  given  up  many  of  their  treasures  to 
the  Saviour's  keeping,  and  have  grace  left  to  be 
unutterably  thankful  for  some  darling  still  left 
in  their  care.  As  they  turned  the  corner  of 
Vesey  Street,  and  trundled  along  on  tbe  smooth 
flagging,  Faith  suddenly  paused.  Should  she  go 
down  Vesey  Street?  Splendid  as  the  flagging 
was,  it  was  a  street  of  many  children  and  much 
whooping  cough.  She  turned  her  carriage  and 
retraced  her  steps.  She  would  go  back  and  go 
down  the  further  end  of  their  own  street  —  that 
was  smooth  and  broad  and  pleasant.  As  they 
walked  Tom  Randolph  came,  with  rather  un- 


God's  Mystery  of  Grace.  321 

(Steady  steps,  towards  them.  Tom's  step  waa 
getting  to  be  unsteady,  even  in  the  early  morn 
ing.  It  took  but  little  poison  to  fire  his  excita 
ble  brain.  Pearly  held  up  a  smooth  stone  in 
one  hand  and  a  stick  in  the  other,  and  greeted 
him  with  a  chuckle  of  delight.  Long  before 
this  Tom  had  giveh  over  his  dislike  for  baby 
hood  and  surrendered  completely  to  the  charms 
of  his  little  pearl.  So  now  he  stopped  for  the 
usual  frolic ;  but  his  breath  was  odorous  with 
liquor,  and  his  talk  rapid  and  excited. 

"  What  a  stupid  old  ride  that  auntie  of  yours 
is  taking,  Prince  Pearly  ;  creeping  along  at  snail 
pace  when  he  ought  to  be  running,  rushing, 
flying!  on  this  wild  morning.  Here,  give  me 
the  helm.  I'll  give  him  such  a  ride  as  be 
seldom  gets." 

"  Not  too  fast,"  Faith  said,  anxiously,  as  he 
courteously  but  peremptorily  possessed  himself 
of  the  carriage.  No  one  could  be  gentler  than 
Tom  Randolph  when  he  was  himself;  but  she 
distrusted  him  in  these  excited  moods,  and  yet 
she  did  not  like  to  refuse  him,  so  she  repeated 
her  gentle  caution. 

"  Not  too  fast,  please.  Oh,  Tom,  do  be  care 
ful!  He  isn't  used  to  it;  you  will  frighten 
him." 

"  He  acts  like  it !  Hear  him  laugh  I  Never 
fear  for  him.  He's  a  man,  and  not  so  easily 
21 


822  Household  Puzzles. 

frightened  as  the  ladies  are.  Here  we  go ;  up, 
up ! "  and  he  swung  the  carriage  suddenly 
around  the  corner,  one  wheel  on  the  stone,  the 
other  in  the  gully  below. 

Faith  shrieked  a  little. 

"  Tom,  O  Tom,  don't.  Let  me  have  him. 
Wait  for  me." 

"  No  waiting  for  laggards.  This  is  the  light 
ning  express.  Here  we  go,"  and  at  that  instant 
the  carriage  struck  violently  against  a  projecting 
stone  and  overturned.  Pearly,  thrown  forward 
by  the  suddenness  of  the  jolt,  fell  out,  striking 
his  head  on  the  pavement.  In  an  instant  Faith 
had  him  in  her  arms,  and  Tom,  beside  her, 
spoke  in  a  hurried  but  thoroughly  sobered  tone. 

"He  is  not  hurt.  I  am  sure  he  isn't.  The 
fn'ght  has  made  him  faint.  Please  let  me  take 
him.  I  will  run  home  with  him  and  have  a 
doctor  in  three  minutes." 

"Don't  touch  him,"  Faith  said,  in  a  low,  stern 
voice.  Then  she  went  with  swift  steps  down 
the  street,  bearing  her  still  burden  into  the 
pretty  yard  which  she  had  so  lately  left.  Maiia 
was  there  sweeping  the  piazza. 

"Hi!"  she  said,  gay ly,  "what  is  the  matter 
with  Prince  Pearly  ?  Did  he  rebel  at  his  car 
riage  ?  Why,  Faith,  is  he  hurt  ?  " 

This  last  in  an  altered  tone,  seeing  Faith's 
face.  Then  she  went  swiftly  in,  not  waiting  for 


God's  Mystery  of  Grace.  823 

an  answer,  opened  the  door  of  Faith's  room,  and 
brought  his  own  little  pillow.  How  swiftly  and 
silently  they  worked,  bathing  the  poor  blue- 
veined  temple  where  the  stone  had  struck,  hold 
ing  a  cloth  wet  in  ammonia  to  his  nose,  rubbing 
the  tiny  feet  and  limbs. 

Almost  immediately  the  doctor  had  arrived, 
for  Torn  had  gone  with  swift  steps  to  his 
call.  He  made  very  few  suggestions,  and  what 
he  did  seemed  almost  mechanical.  Gradually 
the  eagerness  of  their  efforts  slackened,  and  one 
and  another  of  them  looked  with  frightened, 
appealing  faces  at  the  doctor, —  looks  which  he 
studiously  avoided  answering.  Finally  they 
stood  back,  all  but  Faith,  and  looked  at  the 
beautiful  little  face,  white  and  still.  There 
had  been  no  quiver  of  the  eyelids,  no  motion  of 
the  little  hand,  from  the  very  first.  As  for 
Faith,  she  did  not  even  glance  at  any  of  them, 
but  went  steadily,  silently  on,  rubbing  the 
cold  limbs,  bathing  the  blue  temple,  until  sud 
denly  she  dropped  the  cloth  from  her  hand, 
and  gathering  her  baby  in  her  arms,  while  she 
showered  hot,  burning  kisses  on  his  white  lips, 
sank  down  on  her  knees.  Then  they  went 
swiftly  and  quietly  out,  leaving  her  alone  with 
her  terrible  sorrow. 

"•  Isn't  there  a  shadow  of  hope  ? "  Grace 
asked,  piteously,  catching  the  doctor's  hand 
in  her  eagerness. 


824  Household  Puzzlet. 

"He  must  have  died  instantly.  Evidently 
he  struck  his  temple  violently,  and  it  produced 
immediate  death." 

The  doctor's  voice  trembled ;  he  had  stood 
that  very  morning,  shading  his  eyes  from  the  sun, 
and  watching  that  triumphal  little  chariot;  he 
knew  what  a  treasure  it  contained. 

"  How  did  it  happen  ?  Who  knows  anything 
about  it?"  Maria  questioned,  eagerly. 

"/know  all  about  it;  "  and  Tom's  voice  was 
so  hard  it  startled  her  even  then. 

"  I  ought  to  know ;  I  killed  him.  Now  you 
have  the  whole  story  ;  enjoy  it." 

"  Tom !  O  Tom  !  "  Grace  cried,  piteously, 
"don't  speak ^o,  don't  look  so.  What  can  you 
mean  ?  " 

"I  mean  just  that;  I  killed  him.  I  had 
been  drinking,  and  I  didn't  know  what  I  was 
about." 

Every  one  but  Helen  saw  that  Tom's  excite 
ment  was  so  intense  that  he  nardly  knew  what 
he  was, saying;  but  she  exclaimed  in  horror, 
"And  you  care  as  little  about  it  as  that!  Tom 
Randolph,  I  don't  know  what  you  can  be  made 
of!  If  I  were  Faith,  I  could  never  endure  to 
look  at  you  again.  I  should  think  —  " 

He  interrupted  her,  in  a  voice  which  startled 
even  her. 

"Helen,   stop!      You   are   the   last    one    on 


God's  Mystery  of  Grace.  325 

earth  to  reproach  me.  I  have  not  your  sin  on 
my  conscience  even  yet.  The  baby  was  ready 
to  go,  and  that  can  not  be  said  of  every  one." 
And  then  Tom  dashed  away  from  them  out  of 
the  house,  down  the  street,  like  a  madman. 

The  intensity  of  his  excitement  had  been 
apparent  in  his  words.  It  was  the  first  time 
since  Helen's  home-coming  that  he  had  given 
her  reason  to  think  that  he  knew  one  cause  of 
her  husband's  death  lay  at  her  own  door. 

You  could  not  have  found  a  more  beautiful 
picture  than  the  baby  made  lying  in  his  white 
casket,  with  flowers  of  every  hue  and  shape 
scattered  with  lavish  hand  about  him  —  not- 
white  flowers  only,  but  brilliant  red  and  yellow 
blossoms. 

"  He  loved  them,"  said  Maria,  in  answer  to 
Helen's  protest  that  colored  flowers  were  in  bad 
taste  at  a  funeral.  "  He  loved  the  brightest 
ones  best  —  why  shouldn't  1  put  them  around 
him?" 

Faith  had  dressed  him  herself,  in  his  fairest 
and  daintiest  white  dress,  and  buttoned  the  kid 
slippers  about  his  ankle,  and  combed  the  rings 
of  golden  hair  about  her  finger,  just  as  she  was 
wont  to  do,  and  said,  through  blinding  tears, 
"  He  is  going  to  find  his  papa  and  mamma.  I 
have  made  him  beautiful,  just  as  mamma  would 
like  to  see  him,  and  told  him  good-bye." 


S26  Household  Puzzles. 

Faith,  from  first  to  last,  had  astonished  the 
Randolph  family.  None  had  known  better  than 
they  how  entirely  the  love  and  devotion  of  her 
life  had  centered  in  the  beautiful  baby,  the  only 
one  left  to  her  bearing  the  family  name.  They 
had  expected  her  to  lie  crushed  and  helpless  and 
hopeless  at  the  foot  of  that  little  coffin.  But  in 
less  than  an  hour  she- had  come  out  from  that 
closed  room,  saying,  with  a  faint  smile,  "  Mamma 
wanted  him  very  much ;  she  said  she  could  not 
go  and  leave  him.  She  has  him  now."  And 
then  she  had  taken  up  the  work  of  life  again  — 
or  perhaps  I  might  better  say  the  enduring  of 
life.  Her  work  had  been  to  dress  Pearly  in  the 
morning,  to  watch  his  footsteps  as  they  tottered 
from  one  mischief  to  another ;  to  hush  him  for 
his  morning  nap  ;  to  prepare  his  simple  dinner ; 
to  take  him  on  his  many  rides  and  walks;  to 
dress  him  in  long,  loose  night-robes ;  to  watch 
over  him  at  night ;  to  dress  him  again  in  the 
morning  —  her  work  was  gone. 

Happy  for  those  who  can  feel  that  duties 
many  and  important  are  pressing  upon  them, 
and  that  they  have  no  time  to  sit  down  to  grief. 
During  the  two  days  that  had  intervened  since 
death  had  come  among  them,  Tom  had  not  been 
seen  at  home ;  his  meals,  if  he  had  any,  were 
taken  elsewhere.  They  had  feared  that  lie  waa 
trying  to  find  relief  from  his  remorse  in  liquor, 


G-od's  Mystery  of  Grace.  327 

but  a  chance  word  with  Mr.  Harper  revealed 
that  he  had  not  drank  a  drop  since  the  dreadful 
morning. 

It  was  the  day .  for  the  funeral.  At  four 
o'clock,  Faith's  darling  was  to  be  put  away  from 
her.  She  had  spent  the  morning  in  the  closed 
room  where  he  lay  sleeping.  It  was  nearly  noon 
when  she  came  out  to  Maria,  and  said,  *'  Where 
is  Tom?" 

"  I  wish  any  of  us  knew,"  Maria  answered, 
sadly.  "  I  have  not  seen  him  since  —  none  of 
us  have.  I  don't  know  what  he  is  doing,  nor 
what  he  means  to  do." 

"  Has  any  one  been  here  to  offer  help  of  any 
kind  ?  " 

"  Nearly  every  one ;  people  are  coming  all  the 
time.  Mr.  Harper  calls  every  morning;  he 
passed  a  few  moments  ago;  I  presume  he  will 
stop  when  he  returns." 

"  If  he  does,  will  you  tell  him  from  me  that  I 
want  him  to  find  Tom,  and  ask  him  to  come 
home  right  away  ;  I  want  to  see  him." 

"O  Faith!  I  wouldn't  try  to  do  that;  it 
will  be  too  hard." 

"Nothing  that  is  left  to  my  life  can  be  very 
hard,"  Faith  said,  with  a  quiet  smile.  ''Be 
sure  to  tell  him." 

In  accordance  with  this  message,  repeated 
with  earnest  persistence  by  Mr.  Harper,  Torn 
came  just  after  dinner. 


828  Household  Puzzlei. 

What  a  young  man  with  a  nature  like  Tom 
Randolph's  had  suffered,  during  the  two  days 
past,  can  hardly  be  imagined,  much  less  described. 
Sensitive  and  sympathetic  to  an  unusual  de 
gree,  loving  little  Pearly  with  an  affection  not 
often  bestowed  by  a  young  man  upon  a  baby, 
feeling,  oh !  how  keenly,  that  the  precious  little 
life  was  lost  through  gross  and  inexcusable  care 
lessness  on  his  part,  knowing  that  the  story, 
with  many  enlargements  and  additions,  was  in 
everybody's  mouth,  he  had  felt  at  times  as  if  life 
was  not  to  be  endured  for  another  hour,  as  if  he 
must  put  an  end  to  it  all.  Prominent  among 
his  terrors  had  been  the  thought  of  meeting 
Faith  ag.-iin.  Helen's  words,  almost  unconsciously 
to  himself,  hovered  around  him  in  various  forms. 
"How  could' she  endure  ever  to  see  his  face 
again  ?  How  could  he  best  dispose  of  himself  so 
as  to  wound  her  in  the  least?"  These  were 
questions  which  haunted  him.  Feeling  thus, 
it  had  seemed  at  first  an  impossibility  to  obey 
her  summons,  and  but  for'  Mr.  Harper's  persist 
ence  it  would  not  have  been  obeyed. 

Faith  was  in  that  closed  room  when  Grace 
tapped  gently  at  the  door,  and  whispered,  "Torn 
is  here." 

Faith  went  forward  and  opened  the  door. 

"Will  you  ask  him  to  come  to  me  here?" 
she  said,  quietly ;  and  Tom  came. 


God's  Mystery  of  Grace.  329 

She  was  startled  at  the  change  two  days  had 
wrought.  There  were  heavy  dark  rings  under 
his  sunken  eyes,  and  his  mouth  was  set  firmly, 
as  one  in  actual  bodily  pain.  Faith  came  over 
to  him,  as  he  stood  at  the  closed  door,  and  laid 
her  hand  gently  on  his  arm. 

"Poor  Tom!"  she  said,  speaking  softly. 
"  Poor  Tom  !  I  wish  I  could  tell  you  how  very, 
very  sorry  I  am  for  you.  Your  trouble  is 
heavier  than  mine,  but  I  wanted  to  see  you 
while  my  darling  lay  here  ;  I  wanted  you  to  see 
how  very  sweet  he  looks,  and  I  wanted  to  tell 
you  that  I  do  not  feel  hard  to  you,  not  any  at 
all.  I  know  you  would  not  intentionally  have 
hurt  one  hair  of  his  precious  head.  I  want  you 
to  forgive  yourself,  Tom,  as  entirely  as  I  forgive 
you." 

For  a  moment  Tom  stood,  with  folded  arms, 
and  that  set  look  about  his  mouth  —  then  he 
strode  forward  to  the  side  of  that  little  coffin, 
and  kneeling  there,  bowed  his  head  and  wept 
out  his  agony  —  such  tears  as  only  men  shed  who 
are  very  rarely  moved  to  tears.  Groan  after 
groan  escaped  him,  shaking  the  tiny  casket 
against  which  he  leaned ;  while  Faith  stood 
aside  and  looked  on  in  awe  at  a  grief  the  bitter 
ness  of  which  she  had  never  realized.  After  a 
little  he  spoke,  but  his  voice  was  the  voice  of 
prayer, 


330  Household  Puzzles. 

"O  God,"  he  said  —  and  there  was  solemn, 
intense  meaning  in  his  voice  —  "  O  God  of  mercy 
and  of  forgiveness,  grant  to  me  that  spirit  so 
divine,  so  like  thine  that  it  can  forgive  even 
such  a  sin  as  mine  has  been.  For  the  first  time 
in  my  life  I  realize  what  the  Christian  spirit  is. 
I  want  to  be  a  Christian  —  I  will  be  one.  Give 
me  thy  pardon,  even  as  one  who  follows  close 
after  thee  has  done  —  that  she  can  forgive  me, 
can  endure  to  look  upon  me,  emboldens  me  to 
believe  that  thy  mercy  is  great  enough  even  for 
me.  God  be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner.  Help  me 
for  Christ's  sake.  An  hour  ago  I  was  eager  to 
die :  now  I  am  ready  to  live.  There  ure  things 
that  I  can  never  undo,  but  I  beg  for  Christ  in 
my  heart,  shining  forth  in  my  life.  I  have  seen 
it  to-day  as  never  before.  God  of  love,  take  my 
poor  sinful  soul  into  thy  keeping." 

"Amen,"  said  Faith's  low,  gentle  voice. 
"Saviour,  I  thank  thee  that  here  at  my  darling's 
coffin  has  blossomed  so  precious  a  flower  —  the 
.oew  life  of  a  soul  —  even  my  blessed  baby  was 
not  too  much  to  give  for  this.  My  Father,  I 
thank  thee  that  thou  hast  given  me  so  sweet  a 
balm  in  this  sad  hour." 

There  had  come  a  strange  change  over  Tom 
Randolph's  face  during  this  little  time.  Grave 
it  was,  and  deeply  sad,  yet  the  sorrow  was  not 
despair,  and  the  gravity  was  not  desperation. 


Grod's  Mystery  of  Grrac*.  331 

"  Tom,  you  will  come  this  afternoon  ?  "  This 
was  what  Faith  said  to  him  as  they  arose. 

"  Can  you  bear  to  have  me  ?  "  he  asked  her 
piteously. 

"  Not  only  that,  but  I  want  you  to  be  here." 

Then  he  went  for  the  first  time  and  looked  at 
the  sweet  little  face  that  had  grown  so  dear  to 
him,  and  that  was  so  full  of  calm  and  beauty. 
"  It  is  a  heavy,  heavy  price  to  pay,"  he  said, 
tremulously.  "  My  poor  soul  was  not  worth  it, 
but  I  had  well-nigh  lost  it.  I  think  I  was  very 
near  the  end." 

"  Your  soul,  remember,  was  worth  the  death 
of  the  Son  of  God,"  she  said,  solemnly.  "  See 
that  you  make  your  life  worthy  such  a  sacrifice 
as  that." 

Great  was  the  astonishment  of  the  Randolph 
family,  and,  indeed,  of  the  friends  who  knew  the 
sad  story,  when  Faith  followed  her  darling  to  his 
resting-place,  attended  by  her  cousin  Tom. 

"It  could  not  have  been  true,"  said  the 
lookers  on.  "That  story  we  heard  must  have 
been  nothing  but  a  story.  Tom  Randolph  is 
with  her,  and  she  does  not  shrink  from  him  at 
all." 

"  Faith  hasn't  the  spirit  of  a  mouse."  So  said 
her  cousin,  Helen  Munroe.  "  One  would  think 
she  would  have  banished  Tom  to-day,  for 
appearance'  sake,  if  for  nothing  else." 


332  Household  Puzzles. 

"She  is  incomprehensible  to  me,"  said  Maria 
to  Grace.  "  I  can't  understand  how  one  who  is 
so  intense  in  her  feelings  as  she  is  can  control 
Herself  so  as  to  be  patient  with  Tom." 

"  She  is  a  rare  Christian,"  said  Mr.  Harper  to 
Ermina.  And  the  latter  assented  with  a  little 
sigh  —  it  was  so  very  far  beyond  what  she  felt 
th.it  she  could  have  done. 

"  She  has  proved  the  truth  of  the  religion  of 
Jesus  Christ  as  I  never  felt  it  before.  God  bless 
her.  God  bless  and  comfort  and  keep  her." 
So  said  Tom  Randolph,  in  the  silence  and  lone 
liness  of  his  own  room,  just  as  he  bowed  himself 
to  consecrate  to  Jesus  Christ  his  life,  body  and 
soul,  from  henceforth. 

Who  shall  say  that  the  sweet  baby,  so  early 
gone  home  to  heaven,  lived  his  little  life  in 
vain? 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

LA.CES  AND  DUTY. 

CM   RANDOLPH    sat  in   the    dining- 

p)  room,  with  his  chair  tipped  back,  his  hat 
drawn  over  his  eyes,  and  his  feet  on  the 
rounds  of  another  chair.  Contrary  to 
Mrs.  Munroe's  code  of  morals,  Tom's 
new  start  in  life  had  not  yet  made  him  a  careful 
observer  of  all  the  rules  of  propriety.  The  less 
religion  does  for  a  person's  own  life  and  habits, 
the  more  certain  is  that  person  to  expect  it  to 
work  a  sudden  and  complete  transformation  in 
the  habits  of  one  who  has  very  recently  pro 
fessed  to  be  governed  by  its  precepts.  Tom 
was  de^p  in  thought,  which,  to  judge  by  the  ex 
pression  on  his  face,  was  not  very  pleasant. 
Mrs.  Munroe  was  plaiting  a  crepe  ruftle,  and 
Maria  was  setting  the  table  for  the  next  morn- 

333 


Household  Puzzles. 


ing's  breakfast.  The  household  had  narrowed 
down,  the  summer  and  early  autumn  *\ad  gone 
from  them,  so  also  had  Faith.  Contrary  to  the 
opinions  of  some  good  people,  she  held  i.  'o  be 
her  privilege  to  make  life  as  endurable  as  she 
could,  and  to  stay  among  the  rooms  that  had 
echoed  to  the  constant  patter  of  Pearly's  little 
feet  made  the  weight  of  pain  seem  heavier,  so 
she  went  away.  Maria,  as  she  set  the  table, 
sighed  a  little  as  she  left  vacant  the  end  where 
Faith  and  Pearly  used  to  sit.  Maria  missed 
them  sadly.  Tom  looked  up  at  last,  pushed  his 
hat  back  a  little  and  smiled  faintly.  Very  few 
smiles  had  Tom  Randolph  to  bestow.  One  may 
rally  from  a  heavy  sorrow  which  God  has  sent, 
and  smile  brightly  even  between  the  tears;  but 
a  weight  of  self-remorse  over  a  sin  that  has 
brought  lifelong  sorrow  to  some  one  —  a  sorrow 

o  o 

that  but  for  you  might  not  be  —  such  pain  to  a 
young  man  like  Tom  Randolph  cuts  deeply  and 
leaves  little  heart  for  bmiling. 

"  I'm  a  gentleman  of  leisure,"  he  said  to 
Maria  ;  and  she  gave  a  little  start  of  dismay 
at  the  news.  You  must  forgive  Maria;  she  did 
not  want  her  brother  to  sell  liquor  for  a  living, 
but  she  kept  the  family  purse,  and  Tom  paid  his 
board. 

"  Couldn't  you  wait  a  little  ?  "  she  said,  dep- 


Laces  and  Duty.  335 

"  I  didn't  see  how  I  could,  Maria.  I  couldn't 
sell  any  more  liquor." 

"I'm  sure  I  don't  see  whyi"  Helen  said, 
sharply.  "  You  have  sold  it  for  some  months, 
and  I  should  think  a  few  days  longer  would 
make  very  little  difference ;  it  would  be  an  im 
provement  on  coming  home  to  father  to  be 
supported." 

Now  as  this  was  precisely  what  Helen  herself 
had  done,  one  wouldn't  have  supposed  that  she 
would  have  condemned  it  in  another.  Tom 
controlled  the  impulse  to  tell  her  so,  and 
answered  simply, — 

"  I  felt  that  I  could  not  sell  another  drop  of 
liquor." 

"Well,"  Maria  said,  with  a  long  drawn  sigh, 
"  I  suppose  you  are  right,  and  I  shall  be  glad 
enough  that  you  are  out  of  it  when  you  get  in 
somewhere  else  ;  but  the  week's  accounts  won't 
match  very  well  now." 

"  I  know,"  he  said,  with  a  gloomy  face,  "  the 
burden  rests  heavily.  I'm  afraid  it  will  be  some 
time  before  I  can  find  employment.  I've  met 
with  nothing  but  failures  to-day." 

"  Of  course,"  Helen  said,  with  a  volume  of 
significance  in  her  tones.  "  You  can't  expect 
people  to  trust  you." 

Tom's  boots  came  down  from  the  chair  so 
suddenly  that  Helen  said,  with  a  nervous  start, 


336  Household  Puzzles. 

"  Dear  me !  how  rough  you  are  I "  but  he  said 
uot  a  word. 

The  outside  door  creaked  slowly,  and  Mr. 
Randolph  came  in  with  weary  step.  Helen 
gave  him  the  easy-chair  in  which  she  had  been 
sitting,  and  Maria  brought  his  slippers. 

"  How  tired  you  look !  "  she  said,  anxiously. 
"  And  you  are  late  to-night,  too.  I  think  it  is 
too  bad  that  you  have  to  do  over-work." 

"  Not  often,"  he  said,  feebly ;  and  then  he 
coughed  sharply. 

"  Father,"  said  Tom,  with  the  air  of  one  who 
had  something  to  communicate  that  was  de 
pressing,  and  the  sooner  it  could  be  told  and 
put  away  the  better,  "I  wish  you  needed  an 
errand  boy  or  porter,  or  something  of  thai  sort, 
at  your  store.  I've  thrown  up  my  work  and  am 
an  object  of  charity." 

Mr.  Randolph  put  his  tired  hands  on  tht, 
arm-chair  and  drew  himself  up,  and  came  with 
eaijer  steps  toward  his  son. 

"Thank  God,"  he  said,  with  trembling 
earnestness.  "  I  thank  him  that  this  trouble  is 
ended.  I  have  felt  it  bitterly.  I  am  a  temper 
ance  man,  you  know,  my  son." 

Tom  Randolph  arose  and  stood  besido  hia 
father ;  he  towered  above  him ;  he  rested  one 
hand  on  his  arm,  and  his  voice  trembled  more 
than  his  father's  had. 


Laces  and  Ifuty.  837 

"  Father,  /  am  a  temperance  man,  too.  I 
have  signed  a  total  abstinence  pledge  to-day.  I 
hope  to  atone  in  a  measure  for  the  pain  I  have 
given  you." 

"  I'm  sure  I'm  very  glad,"  Helen  said,  when 
both  father  and  son  had  left  the  room.  "  As  glad 
as  any  one  can  be, —  only  one  can't  help  wishing 
that  his  repentance  had  come  a  little  earlier." 

Maria  slammed  the  closet  door. 

"  If  you  ever  get  to  heaven,"  she  said, 
irritably,  "  you  will  say,  '  I  can't  help  wishing  I 
had  come  yesterday,  or  waited  until  to-morrow.' 
Things  as  they  are,  are  never  quite  right  in  your 
estimation." 

Helen  opened  her  eyes  in  wonder. 

"  Dear  me  !  "  she  said,  plaintively,  "  what 
have  I  said  now  ?  I  seem  to  be  always  saying 
something." 

"  That's  true,"  Maria  murmured ;  and  she 
banged  the  other  closet  door  a  little  before  she 
left  the  room. 

Tom  came  in  search  of  her  while  she  was  in 
the  pantry  setting  the  cakes  for  breakfast. 

"  Father  was  pleased  with  my  leaving  the  sa 
loon,"  he  said,  speaking  a  little  wistfully.  She 
turned  toward  him  a  bright  face. 

"  Of  course  he  was,"  she  said,  heartily.     "  So 
am  I  —  only  the  world,  the  flesh  and  the  other 
one  got  the  better  of  me  for  a  little." 
22 


338  Household  Puzzles. 

"It  is  gloomy  work  for  you,  I  know,"  he  said, 
sadly.  "It  seems  almost  hopeless  for  me  to  try 
to  get  employment ;  at  the  best  there  is  very 
little  doing,  and  my  former  experience  and  repu 
tation  are  not  flattering.  If  I  were  only  a  girl  I 
would  have  a  chance  to  try  at  least." 

"A  girl!  Why,  I  thought  it  was  more 
difficult  for  a  girl  to  get  work  than  a  boy  ?  " 

"  I  suppose  it  is,  generally  speaking ;  but  I 
know  of  a  chance  for  a  girl.  Arthur  &  McAllis 
ter  advertize  for  a  clerk.  I  answered  the  adver 
tisement  this  morning,  but  they  informed  me 
that  they  employed  none  but  females  at  the  lace 
counter." 

This  conversation  sent  Maria  to  bed  with 
wide  open  eyes,  that  continued  open  far  into  the 
midnight.  The  result  of  which  midnight 
musing  was  a  conversation  with  Grace  over  the 
next  morning's  breakfast  dishes.  The  conversa 
tion  opened  with  her  favorite  expression, — 

"  There's  no  use  in  talking,  Grace.  Some 
thing  has  got  to  be  done. 

"  I  know  it,"  Grace  said,  meekly. 

There  had  been  so  much  talking  that  she 
knew  quite  well  what  Maria  meant,  without  ex 
planation.  That  young  lady,  however,  proceed 
ed  to  explain. 

"Here's  Helen  on  our  hands  to  support,  and 
Tom  without  anything  to  do,  and  father  looking 


Laces  and  Duty.  339 

paler   and   coughing   harder   every   night.     It's 
time  there  was  a  chance." 

"  Can  you  think  of  anything?  " 

"Yes.  a  hundred  things;  it  is  easier  to  think 
than  to  do.  However,  I'm  going  to  try  doing. 
Tom  says  there  is  a  vacancy  at  Arthur  &  Mc 
Allister's,  and  I'm  going  this  very  morning  to 
try  for  it.  If  I  succeed  you'll  have  to  keep 
house.  You'll  hate  it,  I  know ;  but  so  do  I  hate 
lace.  That's  where  the  vacancy  is  —  at  the  lace 
counter.  If  you  can  conceive  of  anything  more 
stupid  than  puttering  over  boxes  of  lace  from 
morning  till  night,  I  don't  know  what  it  can  be 
Td  rather  bake  griddle  cakes  or  wash  dishes, 
and  I've  no  particular  love  for  that  employment 
either.  However,  tastes  and  feelings,  and 
things  of  that  sort,  have  all  been  ground  up  long 
ago,  in  this  house,  and  eaten  for  daily  bread." 

"  I  don't  see  how  the  house  is  ever  going  to 
get  along  without  you !  "  Grace  said,  dismay  in 
her  voice,  in  her  eyes,  all  about  her. 

"It  is  to  get  along  with  you  the  best  way  it 
can.  I'm  sure  you  can  get  us  all  something  to 
eat  if  you  try.  Anyway,  I  can't  much  longer, 
without  some  money  to  get  it  with ;  and  I  know 
no  other  way  but  to  go  and  earn  some." 

There  was  one  other  way.  Grace  timidly 
suggested  it. 

"  If  Helen  would  only  apply  for  the  vacant 
place." 


340  Household  Puzzles. 

"  Helen !  "  echoed  Maria,  iu  undisguised  dis 
dain.  "  I  think  I  see  her  doing  it.  Why,  bless 
your  heart,  child,  don't  you  know  it  isn't  genteel 
to  sell  lace?  It  is  perfectly  proper  to  live  on  a 
sick  father.  In  fact,  it  is  quite  genteel  to 
starve,  if  you  do  it  gracefully ;  but  the  idea  of 
one  who  had  been  connected  with  the  Munroe 
family  stooping  to  lace-selling  isn't  to  be  thought 
of  for  a  moment." 

I  may  as  well  say,  just  here,  that  no  sooner 
were  the  dishes  dried  and  marshaled  into  place, 
than  Maria  put  her  plans  into  execution ;  and 
the  firm  of  Arthur  &  McAllister  being  really  in 
need,  and  being  well  acquainted  with  her  father, 
she  met  with  prompt  success. 

Then  commenced  a  series  of  martyrdom  such 
as  the  Randolph  family  had  hitherto  not  known. 
Such  breakfasts  as  were  shrinkingly  brought  be 
fore  the  miserable  victims!  Such  dinners  as 
they  endured !  Grace  worked  from  dawn  till 
dark,  and  did  her  very  best ;  but  sha  really  had 
no  more  affinity  for  cooking  than  a  canary  bird ; 
and  whatever  other  branches  of  business  may  be 
carried  on  successfully  without  a  fair  knowledge 
of,  and  general  interest  in  the  details,  house 
keeping  can  not.  So  the  steak  was  burned  or 
smoked,  and  the  bread  was  sticky  and  sour,  the 
pies  were  exasperating,  and  poor  Grace  came 
regularly  to  the  table  with  cheeks  aglow  and 


Lacea  and  Duty.  841 

thiee  fingers  done  up  in  rags,  burned  or  cut  as 
the  case  might  be. 

Maria's  disgust  sent  her  daily  to  the  lace 
counter  with  a  frowning  face.  She  was  sharp  to 
the  customers,  and  positively  crabbed  to  sister 
clerks  to  such  a  degree  that  she  more  than  once 
received  a  hint  from  headquarters  that  she  must 
be  more  civil  or  lose  her  place..  Despite  all  these 
grievances  the  week's  salary  from  the  lace  counter 
helped  considerably  in  the  family  puzzle.  So 
each  girl  stood  her  ground  with  the  resolution 
that  helps  to  make  martyrs,  though  Grace  re 
treated  nightly  under  the  bedclothes  with  red 
eyelids. 

One  evening  Maria  plodded  home  from  the 
store,  through  mud  and  rain,  without  either 
rubbers  or  umbrella  (waterproof  she  had  not), 
and  the  consequence  was  sneezes  and  involuntary 
weeping  out  of  one  eye  the  next  day. 

"  There  is  no  use  in  trying  to  thumb  over 
lace  to-day,"  she  said  to  Grace,  who  was  looking 
gravely  at  the  greasy  spider.  "  You  will  just 
have  to  go  in  my  place." 

"  What,  to  the  store  !  "  Grace  said,  dropping 
the  spider  in  her  surprise. 

"  Yes,  of  course.  I  believe  you  have  cracked 
that.  What  is  the  use  of  being  so  careless? 
My  head  spins  around  like  a  top,  and  feels  aa 
large  as  the  flour  barrel  and  as  empty.  Tell 


U2  Household  Puzzle*. 

Mr.  McAllister,  with  my  compliments,  that  he 
won't  have  the  pleasure  of  growling  at  me 
to-day." 

"But  what  will  you  do  about  the  work?" 

"  Why,  I'll  do  it.  Because  I  can't  walk  a 
mile  in  the  rain,  it  doesn't  follow  that  I  can't  do 
a  little  work  in  the  kitchen ;  and  I'll  have  a 
decent  dinner  once  more,  I  venture  to  sa}-;"  — 
this  last  in  an  undertone ;  then,  louder,  "  Will 
you  try  the  store  ?  " 

"  Why,  of  course  I'll  try ;  but,  Maria,  I'm 
not  sure  that  I  shall  succeed  any  better  than  I 
do  at  cooking." 

Maria  tied  a  handkerchief  around  her  aching 
head,  and  mopped  the  kitchen  floor.  Grace 
rarely  had  time  for  mopping ;  then  she  made 
some  apple  sauce  for  dinner,  that  stayed  in  de 
lightful  quarters,  a  thing  which  Grace's  apple 
sauce  was  never  known  to  do.  The  dinner, 
though  it  was  only  baked  potatoes  and  cold 
meat,  was  a  success ;  for,  be  it  known,  there  is  a 
way  to  make  utterly  uneatable  even  baked  pota 
toes  and  cold  meat,  and  poor  Grace  knew  that 
way.  Then  when  at  tea  time  Maria  had  suffi 
ciently  subdued  eyes  and  nose,  so  that  she  gave 
herself  up  to  the  pleasure  of  making  a  delicious 
creamy  johnny  cake,  the  comfort  of  the  Randolph 
family  reached  a  height  unknown  for  weeks. 

As  for  Grace,  the  day  passed  quietly ;  the  lace 


Laces  and  Duty.  843 

was  neither  greasy  nor  sticky,  two  things  which 
she  abhorred ;  the  rain  prevented  much  sale, 
but  in  the  airangement  of  the  boxes  she  proved 
useful,  saying,  after  but  a  lesson  or  two,  "  I  can 
tell  the  real  from  the  imitation  now,  I  think." 

"How  do  you  tell?"  Mr.  McAllister  asked 
her,  looking  her  through  with  keen  eyes. 

"  I  don't  know,"  she  said,  with  flushing  face. 
"  I  haven't  learned  how  to  tell  scientifically, 
only  this  feels  real,  and  this  one  doesn't." 

"Never  mind  the  science,"  he  said,  smiling  a 
little,  and  then  he  left  her  to  herself. 

Three  days  Maria's  cold  held  sway ;  the  mop 
ping  and  the  johnny  cake  proved  to  be  not  good 
for  it.  After  that  she  went  back  to  the  store, 
and  Grace,  with  a  little  softly  sigh,  put  on  her 
greasy  apron  —  her  work  apron  was  always 
greasy  —  and  took  the  dish  cloth  between  her 
thumb  and  finger. 

Mr.  Arthur,  the  senior  partner,  summoned 
Maria  to  the  office. 

"  Is  your  sister  Grace,  who  has  served  us  in 
your  absence,  a  young  lad}  of  leisure  ?  " 

"  Not  particularly,"  said  Maria,  smiling  in 
spite  of  his  dignity,  at  the  thought  of  poor  Grace 
with  her  head  in  the  oven,  probably,  at  that 
moment.  "  She  is  housekeeper  for  a  family  of 
five." 

"  Oh !     At  your  own  home  ?  " 


844  Household  Puzzle*. 

"  Yea,  sir." 

Mr.  Arthur  leaned  his  chin  on  his  lead  pencil, 
and  mused. 

"Well,  the  fact  is,"  he  said  at  last,  "if  you 
and  Miss  Grace  could  change  places,  it  would 
perhaps  be  agreeable  to  all  parties.  She  gave 
very  general  satisfaction  in  the  store,  the  cus 
tomers  liked  her  and  the  clerks  like  her  very 
much.  She  is  low  voiced,  and  gentle  in  her 
movements,  and  she  tells  real  and  imitation  laces 
by  instinct,  or  in  some  other  mysterious  way ; 
at  least  she  rarely  fails.  In  short,  Miss  Ran 
dolph,  she  has  an  aptitude  for  the  business 
which,  I  may  as  well  say,  and  you  will  excuse 
my  frankness  —  I  am  alvrays  frank  —  you  have 
not.  Now,  Miss  Randolph,  we  are  prepared 
to  engage  your  sister  permanently,  and  give  her 
the  full  salary,  which  is  a  dollar  a  week  more 
than  you  have  been  receiving,  if  that  will  suit 
you." 

"  Engage  her  in  my  place,  you  mean  ?  " 

"  In  your  place." 

"  Personally,  Mr.  Arthur,  I  am  delighted 
with  the  proposition,  and  I  think  Grace  will 
approve.  I  quite  agree  with  you  that  I  have  no 
aptitude  for  the  business.  I  hate  lace.  I  always 
hated  things  that  could  be  copied  so  precisely 
that  you  had  to  feel  of  them  to  tell  the  real  from 
the  false." 


Laces  and  Duty.  845 

Nevertheless,  after  making  this  emphatic  ad 
dress,  Maria  went  home  in  a  good  deal  of  a 
maze.  Once  or  twice  she  laughed  outright.  It 
was  very  funny,  certainly.  Grace  able  to  earn 
her  own  living,  and  she,  Maria,  who  had  been 
useful  and  practical  ever  since  she  was  born,  not! 

''There  are  different  ways  of  doing  things  I 
suppose,"  she  said  aloud,  and  quite  humbly  for 
her.  And  this  little  episode  did  Maria  Ran 
dolph  good.  Also,  it  did  Grace  good.  There 
was  a  recognized  place  for  her  in  the  world, 
then,  even  if  it  was  only  behind  a  lace  counter. 
She  felt  more  self-reliant. 

The  wild  chaotic  kind  of  living  that  had  been 
in  vogue  in  the  Randolph  family  subsided,  the 
dishes  retired  to  their  respective  shelves,  and 
comfort  reigned  once  more.  And  people  liked 
to  buy  laces  at  Arthur  &  McAllister's. 


CHAPTER  XXVII 

STORM  AND   "MOONSHINE." 

HAT  a  horrid  evening!"  Mrs.  Manroe 
said,  with  a  shiver,  and  she  drew  a  little 
black  shawl  closer  about  her  shoulders. 
"It  rains  all  the  time  nowdays." 

They  were  all  in  the  little  dining- 
room,  Mr.  Randolph  in  his  easy-chair,  in  dress 
ing-gown  and  slippers,  feebly  trying  to  look  over 
some  accounts,  stopping  every  few  minutes  to 
wipe  his  forehead  and  his  thin  hands,  for  the 
constant  little  cough  produced  a  perspiration  that 
was  cold  and  clammy  and  disagreeable.  In 
some  way  Mr.  Randolph  must  have  relief  from 
that  office.  ;u  some  way  he  would  soon  have 
it.  If  no  other  channel  opened,  the  restful 
grave  would  come  to  his  aid.  Maria  felt  this, 
and  she  chopped  her  meat  for  the  morning  hash, 
with  her  face  all  gathered  in  a  frown.  Life  was 
846 


Storm  and  "Moonshine"  347 

hard  to  Maria,  and  she  made  it  harder  than  she 
need.  Why  must  she  persist  in  carrying  all  her 
burdens  for  herself?  Grace  had  drawn  as  near 
the  light  as  she  could,  and  held  in  her  lap  the 
only  brightness  that  the  room  contained  —  some 
crimson  worsteds.  They  kept  a  case  of  fancy 
articles  in  thf»  store,  and  Grace  made  pretty 
trifles  by  instinct.  She  had  made  the  happy  dis 
covery  that  she  could  help  to  replenish  that  case 
with  great  advantage  to  her  own  purse.  In 
short,  Grace  was  in  a  fair  way  to  earn  her  own 
living ;  and  it  was  only  busy,  practical  Maria 
who  was  working  hard  and  earning  nothing.  So 
she  thought.  But  who  will  be  kind  enough  to 
estimate  how  much  those  people  really  earn  whc 
spend  their  lives  in  skillfully  contriving  how  tc 
save  the  earnings  of  other  people?  Ermina,  on 
the  other  side  of  the  stand,  was  straining  her  ej  es 
over  black  ruffles.  There  was  no  let  up  to 
ruffles  that  she  had  to  prepare  for  the  next  day's 
campaign.  They  were  not  always  black  ruffles, 
and  the  light  was  not  always  so  dim  as  on  this 
evening.  All  the  gloom  had  concentrated  itself. 
The  Randolph  expenses  were  being  narrowed  to 
a  low  scale.  They  had  actually  reached  that 
pitiful  point  when  an  extra  kerosene  lamp,  when, 
they  were  all  gathered  in  one  room  of  an  even 
ing,  was  a  luxury  not  to  be  thought  of;  so  they 
sat  close  and  strained  their  eyes  over  one. 


848  Household  Puzzles. 

Helen  was  the  only  unoccupied  person.  She 
had  affected  to  read  the  evening  paper  until  she 
pronounced  the  light  no  better  than  a  tallow 
candle. 

"I  wonder  you  don't  introduce  one  into  your 
economy,"  she  said,  scornfully,  to  Maria,  and 
that  young  lady  answered,  with  a  grave  face, — 

"  Do  you  suppose  it  would  be  cheaper  ?  " 

Helen  vouchsafed  no  answer,  and  the  silence 
that  seemed  to  possess  them  all  was  renewed. 
Tom  came  suddenly  in  at  the  side  door,  letting 
in  with  him  a  gust  of  wind  and  rain,  and  leaving 
the  door  open  a  crack,  as  men  are  apt  to  do, 
while  he  rushed  through  to  the  kitchen  with  his 
dripping  umbrella.  Helen  shivered  and  drew 
further  into  her  shawl,  and  Maria  pushed  the 
door  to  with  a  bang. 

"  You  always  leave  doors  open  after  you."  she 
said,  a  little  fretfully,  as  Tom  emerged  from  his 
wet  overcoat  and  came  back  to  the  dining-room. 

44 1  wanted  to  give  you  a  taste  of  outside  life, 
so  that  you  would  better  appreciate  the  comforts 
of  your  position,"  he  said,  cheerily,  drawing  a 
chair  near  his  father. 

Helen  sniffled. 

44  Comforts !  "  she  said,  sarcastically. 

44  Why,  yes,  there  is  a  marked  difference  be 
tween  this  room  and  the  street.  It  rains  in 
torrents,  and  is  the  darkest  night  I  ever  saw. 


Storm  and  "Moonshine."  849 

Well,  1  am  ready  for  congratulations.  I  have 
found  employment  at  last." 

Maria  looked  up  from  her  hash  with  a  gleam 
of  satisfaction.  Grace  said,  "Oh,  good!"  and 
Ermina  asked  with  interest,  "  What  is  it?" 

"  Before  I  tell  that,  I  must  remind  you  that  I 
have  been  for  more  than  three  weeks,  now, 
searching  right  and  left  for  something  to  do,  and 
the  case  was  really  growing  desperate." 

Mr.  Randolph  dropped  the  paper  on  which  he 
was  figuring,  and  the  pencil  in  his  hand  trembled 
as  he  said,  nervously, — 

"  You  have  not  gone  back  to  that  saloon,  have 
you,  Thomson?  " 

"No,  sir."  There  was  an  emphatic  ring  in 
Tom's  voice.  "  It  is  a  respectable  business  this 
time.  Only  Maria,  if  you  board  me,  you  will 
have  to  give  me  very  prompt  breakfasts.  I'm  to 
be  on  hand  for  the  seven  o'clock  car." 

"  In  the  capacity  of  driver,  I  presume."  Mrs. 
Munroe  said  this  for  the  utmost  sarcasm;  but 
Tom's  answer  was  prompt. 

"  That's  it,  exactly.  How  came  you  to  guess 
BO  eoon?  " 

"  Why,  Tom  Randolph  !  "  Grace  said,  looking 
aghast. 

"Nonsense!"  said  Maria;  "you'll  believe 
anything,  Grace.  Do  tell  us,  Tom,  what  you 
have  to  do  with  the  seven  o'clock  car." 


350  Household  Puzzles. 

"  Drive  the  horses  attached  to  it,"  Tom  said, 
gravely.  "  Helen  has  guessed  rightly.  I  am 
tired  of  idleness  —  any  work  is  better  than  that ; 
and  this  is  honest  and  decent." 

Up  to  this  time  Mrs.  Munroe  had  not  fully 
taken  his  meaning.  The  magnitude  of  his 
crime  seemed  too  great  for  her  mind  to  compass. 
She  sat  looking  at  him  with  absolute  disgust  in 
her  face,  and  her  voice  was  actually  tremulous 
as  she  said, — 

44  Tom  Randolph,  I  should  think  you  had  dis 
graced  your  father  sufficiently.  I  don't  know 
what  he  has  done  that  he  should  be  so  utterly 
disappointed  and  disgraced  in  his  son.  I  hope 
this  will  not  break  him  down  utterly." 

44  Helen  ! "  Mr.  Randolph's  voice  had  that  pe 
culiar  ring  in  it  that  they  as  children  had  heard 
*3ut  a  few  times  in  their  lives.  44  Helen  !  I  am 
proud  of  him.  I  am  glad  when  I  see  any  one 
sufficiently  independent  to  rise  above  foolish 
grades  and  distinctions.  So  far  am  I  from  being 
disgraced,  I  think  I  never  was  so  sure  of  a  suc 
cessful  future  for  my  son  as  I  am  at  this  moment. 
Moral  courage  is  something  that  I  never  had 
very  much  of,  but  it  is  something  that  I  admire 
and  respect." 

44  There  is  no  accounting  for  people's  tastes," 
Helen  said  coldly,  even  haughtily;  then  she 
took  up  her  paper  and  professed  to  read.  Some- 


Storm  and  "Moonshine."  351 

no  one  liked  to  express  an  opinion  after 
that,  and  the  sewing  and  chopping  went  on 
quietly. 

Tom  left  them  to  look  after  kindlings  for  the 
morning  fire.  Ermina  sewed  to  the  end  of  her 
ruffle,  and  looked  wearily  over  at  the  pile  on  the 
lounge  waiting  to  be  sewed.  Should  she,  or 
should  she  not,  try  to  do  more  that  evening  ? 
She  was  not  obliged  to  sew  in  the  evenings,  but 
they  were  hurried;  they  always  are  hurried  in 
dressmaking  establishments;  there  never  seems 
to  come  a  time  when  the  world  is  clothed ;  and 
it  expedited  matters  so  much  in  the  next  day's 
rush  to  have  yards  an  1  yards  of  work  turned 
down  and  basted.  But  Ermina  was  unusually 
tired  this  evening,  body  and  heart.  She  pushed 
her  chair  back  a  little  from  the  light,  and  shaded 
her  weary  eyes  with  her  hand.  Life  looked  un 
utterably  dreary  to  her.  The  rain  pelting  un 
ceasingly  against  the  window,  and  the  wind 
howling  around  the  keyhole,  served  to  deepen 
her  sense  of  gloom.  Through  her  fingers  she 
could  get  peeps  of  her  father's  face,  and  she 
felt  not  exactly  shocked  at  its  pallor;  the  sight 
had  grown  too  common  to  come  as  a  shock,  but 
it  hurt  her  with  a  new  pain.  How  feeble  he 
looked,  and  how  puzzled  he  seemed  over  the 
miserable  figures.  What  a  daily  perplexity  life 
must  be  to  him,  mstead  of  having  the  rest  and 


352  Household  Puzzles. 

peace  about  it  that  a  man  of  his  years  needed. 
The  miserable  lamp  that  smoked  a  little,  as 
kerosene  lamps  frequently  do,  added  to  the 
general  sense  of  discomfort  and  discouragement 
which  possessed  her.  They  were  even  too  poor 
to  have  gaslight ;  they  were  growing  poorer , 
she  worked  hard  at  her  new  business  and  care 
fully  saved  her  earnings,  yet  there  seemed  to  be 
less  to  live  on  than  there  used.  There  was  less. 
Mr.  Randolph's  weakness  and  feebleness  had 
grown  upon  him  to  such  an  extent  that  he  had 
relinquished  of  necessity  one  duty  after  another, 
and,  of  course,  his  salary  had  grown  proportion 
ately  smaller,  and  the  family  were  coming  to 
know  that  it  was  only  by  courtesy  that  his 
place  was  kept  at  all.  There  was  certainly 
enough  to  justify  a  feeling  of  apprehension  as  to 
the  future,  yet  Ermina  had  of  late  been  able  to 
lift  herself  somewhat  above  it  all,  to  trust  her 
life  and  the  lives  of  her  kindred  in  the  Father's 
hand.  To-night  though  it  was  nearer  despair 
than  trust.  She  felt  utterly  cast  down  and  for 
saken,  as  if  there  were  no  brightness  anywhere. 
Those  ruffles  over  on  the  lounge  waiting  for  her 
seemed  like  so  many  imps  of  darkness  ready  to 
sting  her;  she  hated  them,  and  the  life  stretch 
ing  drearily  out  before  her,  filled  with  ruffles  to 
hem  and  gather  and  plait,  looked  unutterably 
horrible.  I  want  you  to  understand  that  I 


Storm  and  "Moonshine"  353 

don't  justify  Ermina  for  being  in  this  state  of 
mind.  Of  course  it  was  unreasonable  and  silly; 
it  was  no  more  right  than  it  was  for  you  to  be 
cross  all  the  morning  because  tl«e  steak  was! 
tough  and  the  coffee  cold  when  you  came  to 
breakfast.  I  have  no  doubt  it  was  unchristian, 
so  are  one  eighth  of  the  things  that  you  have 
said  and  done  to-day  ;  but  I  insist  that  it  was 
very  human,  and  Ermina  was  an  intensely 
human  girl,  with  like  passions  and  failings  with 
yourself.  Whether  she  hadn't  a  very  little  more 
to  try  her  than  you  have  had  to-day,  judge  ye. 
The  door-bell  pealing  through  the  house  startled 
the  family  with  a  sudden  sense  of  a  something 
breaking  rudely  in  on  their  quiet,  which  people 
feel  when  they  have  allowed  themselves  to  sink 
into  the  depths  of  gloomy  reverie.  Helen 
dropped  the  paper  with  an  exclamation. 

"  Who  on  earth  can  be  coming  here  in  such  a 
storm  ?  It  must  be  urgent  business." 

Tom,  who  had  been  heard  banging  about  the 
upper  hall,  now  came  down  to  answer  the  bell. 
They  heard  him  show  some  one  into  the  parlor  ; 
then  he  came  to  the  dining-room  door  and  put  hia 
head  in.  "  A  messenger  for  you,  Ermina." 
Then  he  vanished. 

"  Some   one    about    those   dreadful   dresses," 
Ermina  said,  with  a  sigh.     "They  would  come 
to  look  after  their  ruffles  if  it  rained  icicles." 
23 


854  Household  Puzzles. 

'*  Don't  keep  the  poor  victim  long,  whoever  it 
is,  or  he  will  freeze."  This  was  Maria's  parting 
sentence. 

The  dimmest  of  smoking  lamps  served  to  make 
the  darkness  of  the  little  parlor  visible.  The 
stove  had  not  even  been  set  up  yet;  it  was  not 
late  in  the  season,  and  people  would  not  expect 
you  to  have  a  fire  when  there  was  no  stove  in 
which  to  make  it.  By  dint  of  close  looking,  Er- 
mina  discovered  a  shadow  in  the  dimness ;  it  was 
tall  and  wore  an  overcoat.  She  went  toward  it 
with  dignity,  wondering  at  its  errand.  There 
was  no  mistaking  the  sudden  light  in  her  eyes  HS 
she  neared  it ;  and  it  spoke,  though  it  said 
simply,  "  Good  evening,  Miss  Ermina."  She 
knew  the  voice,  and  there  was  pleasure  mingling 
with  the  surprise  with  which  she  said,  "Mr. 
Harper!" 

"Now  you  are  wondering  why  I  came  out  in 
the  storm,"  he  said,  when  they  were  comfortably 
seated.  "  I  see  the  wonderment  in  your  eyes, 
and  I  am  not  surprised  at  it.  I  confess  to  you 
that  it  doesn't  look  like  a  sane  proceeding.  But 
I  had  a  reason,  and  it  can  be  explained  in  a  very 
few  words.  I  wanted  to  see  you." 

"  That  is  remarkable,"  Ermina  said,  with  a 
little  laugh.  "I  didn't  know  any  one  was  ever 
in  that  state." 

"Did  you  not?"   he  said,  earnestly.     "It  is 


Storm  and  "Moonshine."  355 

becoming  a  chronic  state  with  me.  I  have  been 
thinking  about  it  nearly  all  this  day,  thinking 
about  it  and  praying  over  it,  and  to-night  I  have 
braved  the  storm,  resolved  to  tell  you  the  whole 
Btory.". 

A  dozen  times  they  wondered  in  the  dining- 
room  who  could  be  keeping  Ermina  so.  Then, 
as  Tom  did  not  appear  again,  they  gave  over 
wondering  and  went  their  several  ways. 

Helen  had  been  asleep  when  Ermina,  who 
shared  her  room,  pushed  open  the  door,  and 
brought  her  dim  little  lamp  into  the  darkness. 
She  set  it  softly  down  and  went  to  the  window ; 
the  rain  had  ceased,  and  dozens  of  stars  were 
twinkling.  Helen  popped  up  her  head  from 
among  the  pillows. 

"  Where  in  the  world  have  you  been  ?  "  she 
asked  in  wonderment. 

"  I've  been  nowhere,"  Ermina  answered  with 
shining  eyes.  "  What  a  change  there  is  in  the 
weather.  Do  you  know,  Helen,  the  stars  are 
shining,  and  it  looks  as  though  it  would  never 
rain  again." 

"  Who  wanted  you  ?  "  asked  Helen,  ignoring 
the  stars.  "  And  whoever  it  was,  why  didn't 
they  spend  the  night?" 

"  Why,  it  isn't  but  a  few  minutes." 

"  A  few  minutes !  It  was  nearly  ten  o'clock 
when  I  came  up  stairs.  It  must  be  eleven  now." 


S56  Household  Puzzles. 

"Oh,  no,"  Ermina  said,  quickly;  "it  couldn't 
be." 

"  Well,  who  was  it  ?  " 

Thus  pressed,  Ermina's  reluctant  tongue  suc 
ceeded  in  forming  the  words,  "  Mr.  Harper." 

Helen  echoed  them. 

"  Mr.  Harper !  What  in  the  name  of  common 
sense  did  he  want?  Couldn't  he  have  chosen  a 
lovelier  night  for  his  errand  ?  " 

"He  is  not  afraid  of  the  rain,"  Ermina  said, 
evasively. 

"  I  should  think  not,  nor  of  cold,  nor  of  you, 
either.  It  is  a  wonder  you  did  not  freeze.  His 
errand  must  have  been  very  pressing.  What 
did  he  want  ?  " 

"  I  declare  if  there  isn't  the  moon,"  Ermina 
said,  eagerly.  "  I  didn't  know  it  rose  so  late.  I 
believe  I  had  forgotten  that  there  was  one.  Oh, 
how  beautiful  it  is ! " 

Mrs.  Helen  Munroe  raised  herself  on  one 
elbow,  and  spoke  impatiently. 

"Ermina  Randolph,  I  have  asked  you  three 
times  what  Mr.  Harper  wanted.  If  you  intend 
to  tell  me,  I  wish  you  would  let  the  stars  and  tho 
moon  alone,  and  do  so." 

Ermina  dropped  the  curtain,  aud  went  over  to 
the  glass  and  began  to  take  the  pins  out  of  her 
hair.  Her  cheeks  were  very  glowing. 

"He  wanted  me,"  she  said,  slowly,  almost 
reverently. 


Storm  and  "Moonshine"  357 

Mrs.  Munroe  sat  up  straight  and  looked  at  her, 

"You!"  she  repeated,  intense  amazement  in 
her  voice.  "  What  do  you  mean  ?  " 

"  I  moan  that,  with  all  that  it  implies.  I  do 
not  wonder  that  you  are  astonished.  You  can 
not  be  as  much  so  as  I  was.  To  think  that  God 
had  that  waiting  for  me,  coming  to  me,  all  the 
while  ;  and  only  this  very  evening  I  felt  that  my 
life  was  desolate.  I  have  been  a  very  untrustful 
child,  Helen.  I  wonder  that  he  has  had  patience 
with  me." 

Mrs.  Munroe  fixed  the  pillows  under  her  head 
and  lay  down  without  another  word.  The  lamp 
had  been  out  for  an  hour,  and  Ermina  had  beeff 
turning  herself  over  in  the  bed  for  nearly  that 
length  of  time,  when  her  sister  made  her  first 
comment  on  the  evening's  revelation. 

"  Well,  I  think  he  took  a  very  rainy  night 
for  it." 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

A  NEW   STAET. 

|ERY  soon  thereafter  there  was  another 
wedding  in  the  Randolph  family,  utterly 
unlike  the  first  one  —  so  unlike,  so  ill  be 
fitting  in  Helen's  estimation  the  dignity 
of  Ermina's  coming  position,  that  she  went 
Around  for  weeks  beforehand  with  her  forehead 
drawn  in  a  row  of  wrinkles,  and  in  kitchen  and 
pantry  held  endless,  hopeless  discussions  with 
Maria.  As  for  Ermina,  she  did  in  many  things 
just  what  people  are  not  given  to  doing  under 
the  same  circumstances.  For  instance,  she  kept 
her  place  in  the  sewing-room  up  to  the  very  last 
week  of  her  stay  a;  home.  Her  reasons  therefor 
were  simple  and  conclusive. 

44  I've  nothing  very   special  to  do.     I'm   not 
going  to  have  sixteen  flounced  and  plaited  silk 
dresses.     My   wardrobe   is   to   be   simple,  from 
358 


A  New  Start.  359 

taste  partly,  from  necessity  a  great  deal ;  and  1 
need  all  the  money  I  can  earn." 

A  morning  wedding,  no  guests,  no  wedding 
cake.  Over  each  of  these  three  movements 
Helen  exhausted  herself  and  the  patience  of 
those  around  her  with  argument. 

"An  evening  wedding  was  so  much  more 
tasteful  and  stylish." 

"As  to  taste,"  Maria  said.  "That,  of  course, 
was  a  matter  of  taste,  and  tastes  differed." 

"  And  as  to  style,"  Ermina  chimed  in.  "I'm 
not  stylish,  you  know ;  don't  aim  to  be." 

"  But  Mr.  Harper  was,"  Helen  said.  "  Very 
stylish,  and  immensely  wealthy.  She  thought 
some  little  regard  ought  to  be  paid  to  his  posi 
tion." 

The  mention  of  Mr.  Harper's  name  always 
produced  a  softened  and  quieted  tone  of  voice  in 
Ermina,  so  while  Maria  answered  with  unusual 
sharpness  that  "  Mr.  Harper's  wealth  was  not 
supposed  to  pay  the  wedding  expenses,  arid  his 
position  was  strong  enough  to  take  care  of  itself," 
Ermina  said,  gently,  that  "  Mr.  Harper  entirely 
approved  of  the  arrangements;  indeed  they  were 
of  his  own  planning." 

"  Well,  I  must  say  you  are  queer  creatures," 
Helen  said,  with  lifted  eyebrows  and  vexed 
voice.  "  I  don't  know  after  all  but  you  are  well 
matched.  One  would  suppose  that  if  people  had 


360  Household  Puzzles. 

any  friends  they  would  like  to  see  them  about 
them  on  their  wedding  day.  But,  as  Maria  says, 
there  is  no  accounting  for  people's  tastes." 

There  was  a  mixture  of  sharpness  and  hu 
mility  in  Ermina's  answer, — 

"  I  don't  at  this  moment  think  of  an  indi 
vidual  in  this  town,  outside  of  our  own  imme- 
diate'family,  that  I  care  particularly  ever  to  see 
again.  It  is  a  mortifying  fact,  and  I  don't  doubt 
that  it  is  my  own  fault ;  but  it  is  a  fact  never 
theless.  I'm  sure  I  hope  never  to  have  to  own 
it  in  regard  to  any  other  home  of  mine." 

"  No  danger,"  Maria  said,  grimly,  "  Mr.  Har 
per's  millions  would  secure  plenty  of  friends." 

Maria's  was,  however,  a  sort  of  satisfied  grim- 
ness.  She  was  very  willing  to  have  millions 
come  into  the  family,  especially  when  in  their 
train  they  brought  every  other  qualification. 
Her  tussle  with  poverty  had  been  too  long,  and 
her  heart  was  too  unselfish  not  to  feel  genuine 
joy  that  one  of  the  family  had  emerged  into  the 
sunlight,  especially  when  that  one  was  Ermina, 
decidedly  her  favorite  sister,  and  more  especially 
when  the  sunshine  was  of  Mr.  Harper's  own 
bringing;  she  thoroughly  believed  in  Mr.  Harper. 

"There  are  two  ways  of  getting  manied,"  she 
said,  in  a  burst  of  confidence  to  Grace  over  their 
night  toilet.  "  Helen  married  the  handsome 
house,  and  the  lace  curtains,  and  the  silver  tea 


A  New  Start.  361 

set,  and  the  diamond  ring,  and  plenty  of  silk 
dresses,  and  Horace  Munroe  thrown  into  the 
background,  as  a  ku.d  of  awkward  necessity. 
Ermiria  now  is  going  to  marry  Mr.  Harper  be 
cause  tlie  houses  and  the  jewels  come  with  him. 
I  guess  she  is  quietly  glad  whenever  she  happens 
to  think  of  them,  l>ut  it's  Mr.  Harper  anyhow. 
I  recommend  you  to  follow  the  latter  example ; 
it  sounds  more  like  the  marriage  service." 

"  I'm  not  going  to  be  married  at  all,"  said 
sleepy  Grace.  "  I'm  going  to  stay  at  home  and 
keep  house  for  father." 

Maria  shrugged  her  shoulders. 

"  My  patience  I  I  pity  father,"  she  said,  sig 
nificantly;  and  the  next  instant  was  glad  that 
Grace  was  too  nearly  asleep  to  feel  the  point  of 
the  sentence.  Maria  was  nearly  always  sorry  for 
her  sharp  points  after  she  had  made  them. 

"But  I  don't  see  why  you  can't  have  a  little 
cake,  like  decent  people,"  said  Helen,  returning 
freshly  to  the  charge  after  a  night's  rest.  "  Who 
ever  heard  of  a  wedding  without  any  wedding 
cake?" 

"  What  is  the  use  of  ^t  ? "  Ermina  asked, 
briskly.  "If  it  were  to  be  an  evening  enter 
tainment  I  suppose  we  should  have  to  have  it; 
but  who  wants  to  munch  cake  at  eight  o'clock  in 
the  morning  ?  I'm  sure  I  would  rather  have  a 
potato." 


362  Household  Puzzles. 

"  Such  an  unearthly  hour,"  murmured  Hek'n, 
in  increasing  disgust;  and  Ermina  innocently  re 
minded  her  that  it  was  an  hour  later  than  usual. 
There  was  little  use  in  discussions ;  both  Mr. 
Harper  and  Ennina  seemed  to  be  hopelessly  set 
in  their  determination  to  ruffle  the  family  life  as 
little  as  possible.  One  little  sentence  escaped 
Ermina  in  conversation  with  Grace,  with  whom 
each  sister  was  more  apt  to  be  confidential  than 
with  each  other. 

"  I  would  have  liked  a  little  more  of  a  commo 
tion,  of  course.  Who  wouldn't?  It  is  not  in 
human  nature  not  to  want  to  make  a  nice  time 
when  one  is  married  ;  but  we  had  such  a  dread 
ful  time  getting  over  the  expenses  of  Helen's 
wedding  that  I  am  determined  to  bring  no  more 
debts  of  that  kind.  I  would  rather  have  baked 
potatoes  and  salt  for  the  wedding  breakfast  than 
to  have  father  harassed  with  bills." 

Tom  was  dressing  for  the  wedding,  though 
Helen  disdainfully  said  she  saw  no  use  in 
dressing  —  they  might  as  well  wear  their  calico 
wrappers;  but  they  didn't  —  instead  they  put 
on  their  best  dresses,.and  the  table  looked  fresh 
and  pretty,  with  no  cake  but  doughnuts,  but  de 
licious  coffee  to  drink  with  them.  Tom  needed 
assistance  in  the  matter  of  a  button  and  was 
glad  to  find  Maria  at  liberty  for  a  minute  to  sew 
it  on.  During  the  operation  he  laughed  outright 


A  New  Start.  363 

at  bis  own  thoughts,  and  then  proceeded  to  ex 
plain. 

"  One  of  my  brother  drivers  came  to  me  last 
night  for  a  confidential  chat.  I  wish  you  could 
have  seen  his  puzzled  and  important  face.  He 
is  that  Jerry  that  you  think  is  so  good-natured. 
What  do  you  think  he  wanted  ?  " 

"  I'm  sure  I  don't  know.  This  button  has  split 
in  two,  Tom." 

"  Well,  here's  another.  I  couldn't  imagine 
what  he  was  coming  at.  He  called  me  aside  and 
looked  so  important.  He  begged  my  pardon  for 
troubling  me  —  they  are  all  remarkably  polite  to 
me  —  and  he  said  that  four  or  five  of  them  had 
been  having  a  time  with  their  washerwoman 
because  she  didn't  use  starch  enough.  They're 
wonderfully  particular  fellows  on  Sunday.  She 
ironed  in  wrinkles,  too,  he  said;  and  then,  after 
considerable  stammering,  he  managed  to  get  out 
that  a  number  of  them  had  been  talking  over  the 
immaculateness  of  my  linen,  and  had  decided  to 
get  me  to  negotiate  with  my  washerwoman,  who 
ever  she  was,  to  see  if  she  would  do  their  work. 
The  poor  fellow  was  utterly  crestfallen  when  I 
told  him  that  my  laundress  was  my  sister." 

"  They  are  letting  that  coffee  boil  over.  I 
smell  it !  "  was  Maria's  lucid  .reply.  "  I  knew 
something  would  happen  if  I  came  away.  Is 
that  all  you  want,  Tom  ?  " 


864  Household  Puzzles. 

"  All  right  —  much  obliged ; "  and  Maria  went 
back  to  the  breakfast. 

"  A  rich  brother-in-law  is  a  very  fine  thing  to 
have,  but  you  can't  eat  him,  nor  make  clothes 
out  of  him;  so  the  summing  up  of  the  whole 
matter  is,  that  I  must  find  something  to  do  that 
will  help  support  the  family ;  and,  Helen,  you 
will  have  to  keep  house  and  do  the  cookiug." 
Of  course  it  was  Maria  who  said  this. 

*'  I'm  sure  I'm  willing,"  Helen  said,  drearily. 
"Only  I  can't  imagine  what  you  will  do." 

" I'll  do  something"  Maria  said,  determination 
in  her  face  and  voice. 

Something  besides  a  wedding  had  come  to  the 
family.  Only  the  day  after  Ermina  left  them, 
Mr.  Randolph,  going  to  his  office  as  usual,  look 
ing  not  paler  nor  more  feeble  than  usual,  so  far 
as  they  could  see,  came  from  there  an  hour  after 
ward  in  the  carriage  of  his  employer ;  was  sup 
ported  on  the  arm  of  a  brother  clerk  to  his 
room ;  he  had  fainted  at  his  post.  "  Nothing 
serious,  I  trust,"  the  young  man  said,  reas 
suringly;  and  the  daughters  hoped  it  wasn't, 
and  told  each  other  that  he  had  been  unusually 
fatigued  and  excited  during  the  preparation  for 
Ermina's  departure  ;  he  needed  rest ;  to-morrow 
he  would  be  better.  But  to-morrow  came,  and 
to-morrow,  and  after  a  good  many  to-morrows 
bad  passed  they  began  gradually  to  realize  that 


A  New  Start.  865 

he  would  not  go  to  the  old  seat  in  the  counting- 
room  again.  So  there  was  Grace's  salary  in  the 
store  and  Tom's  wages  as  a  street-car  driver  to 
support  the  family  !  No  wonder  that  even  Helen 
awakened  to  the  necessity  of  doing  something. 
•But  what  was  it  to  be?  Several  days  were 
spent  in  fruitless  search ;  and  it  was  after  one 
of  those  days,  when  Mr.  Randolph's  cough  had 
been  more  distressing  than  usual,  that  Maria  in  a 
mood  half  way  between  apathy  and  despair, 
washed  the  dishes  by  the  light  of  a  smoking 
kerosene  lamp.  It  needed  a  new  burner,  but 
they  were  too  poor  to  afford  one.  She  was  alone 
in  the  kitchen ;  Grace  had  returned  to  the 
store,  and  Helen  was  resting  on  the  lounge  in 
the  sitting-room  after  the  wearying  duties  of  the 
day,  for  Maria  had  been  out  all  the  afternoon  en 
gaged  in  her  unsuccessful  search  for  emploj^ment, 
and  Helen  had  done  the  kitchen  work  with  what 
patience  and  skill  she  could  command  for  the 
occasion.  Tom,  in  the  woodshed,  was  whistling 
softly,  and  the  tune  he  whistled  suggested  the 
familiar  words, — 

"  Thus  far  the  Lord  has  led  me  on, 
Thus  far  Ids  power  prolongs  my  days, 
And  every  evening  shall  make  known 
Some  fresh  memorial  of  his  grace." 

Presently    the    whistling    broke    into    actual 
words,  and  he  sang, — 

"  Much  of  my  time  has  run  to  waste." 


366  Household  Puzzles. 

Then  he  pushed  open  the  kitchen  door,  with  hia 
arms  full  of  kindlings. 

"There  is  no  truer  line  than  that,"  he  stopped 
his  singing  to  say  to  Maria  ;  "  and  yet,  isn't  it  a 
queer  world?  I'm  actually  trying  now,  with  all 
my  might,  to  redeem  the  time.  My  work  is 
honest,  and  I'm  trying  to  be  faithful  ;  and  I 
overheard  Judge  Morris  tell  his  son  Charlie  — 
who  used  to  be  my  chum,  you  know  —  that  he 
was  afraid  I  had  gone  to  the  dogs ;  that  I  was 
actually  a  street-car  driver  I " 

"The  rest  of  my  time  is  likely  to  'run  to 
waste,'"  Maria  said,  dwelling  moodily  on  the 
line  quoted.  Then  she  roused  herself  to  re 
spond  to  his  remark.  "  I  shouldn't  care  what 
Judge  Morris  thought,  or  his  son  Charlie  either. 
I  presume  they  considered  you  all  right  while 
you  were  a  gentleman  of  leisure.  Tom,  how 
came  you  ever  to  decide  to  take  that  work  to 
do?" 

"  Well,"  said  Tom,  speaking  reflectively,  and 
d?pc'siting  his  kindlings  in  the  box  as  he  spoke, 
"  indirectly,  Peter  Armstrong  had  as  much  to  do 
with  it  as  any  one.  You  don't  know,  perhaps, 
what  a  queer  fashion  he  has  of  reading  the 
Bible  ?  He  discovered  that  there  was  a  Peter 
/u  it,  and  he  '  hunted  him  up,'  as  he  says,  and 
read  about  him ;  sometimes  lives  a  week  on  an 
idea  of  Peter  Bible's; -sometimes  it  is  a  month 


A  New  Start.  367 

before  he  takes  up  a  new  item.  I  have  been 
immensely  interested  in  his  system.  Now  you 
know  it  is  only  a  little  while  since  I  started  out 
on  a  new  plan  of  living,  and  something  suggest 
ed  to  my  mind  the  determination  to  be  a  '  what 
soever'  Christian." 

"  A  what  ?  "  said  puzzled  Maria. 

"  A  '  whatsoever'  Christian.  I'm  afraid  I 
should  have  shrunken  from  it  if  I  had  compre 
hended  in  what  ways  it  would  lead  me.  I  have 
been  amazed  a  good  many  times  already.  Well, 
one  morning  the  verse  proved  to  be,  '  Whatsoev 
er  thy  hand  findeth  to  do,  do  it  with  thy  might.' 
It  was  after  I  had  spent  some  weeks  in  looking 
for  work,  and  that  very  morning  I  had  not  been 
away  from  the  house  ten  minutes  when  I  heard, 
in  a  curious  sort  of  way,  that  they  were  having 
trouble  with  the  car  drivers  —  dismissed  several. 
'  Whatsoever  thy  hand  findeth,'  said  I  to  myself. 
4  My  patience,'  said  I.  Why,  I  didn't  think  it 
would  set  me  to  driving  car  horses !  But  it  was 
the  only  '  whatsoever'  that  appeared  to  me  that 
day,  and  by  night  I  had  decided  it.  I  have  not 
been  sorry,"  said  Tom,  taking  off  his  hat  and 
brushing  the  thick  hair  from  his  forehead.  "  In 
fact,  I  think  I  can  say  I  am  glad,  though  the 
position  has  not  been  a  particularly  pleasant 
one." 

"  It's  a  queer  idea,"  Maria  said,  with  a  short, 


368  Household  Puzzles. 

little  laugh  ;  "  but  I  think  there  is  a  good  deal 
more  energy  than  religion  about  it.  I  like  that 
sort  of  motto." 

"  Adopt  it,"  said  Tom,  eagerly.  "  I  wish  you 
would.  I  think  you  would  like  it;  and  I'm 
sure  I  would  like  the  way  in  which  it  would 
lead  me." 

"  I  wouldn't  be  afraid  of  that,"  Maria  said, 
loftily.  "I'm  no  shirk.  I  wouldn't  be  a  bit 
afraid  to  live  out  all  the  *  whatsoevers '  in  the 
world." 

"  Then  try  it,"  Tom  said,  with  increasing 
earnestness.  "Will  you?  I  haven't  the  least 
doubt  of  your  ultimate  success  if  you  undertake 
it.  Come,  will  you  pledge  yourself?  " 

"  Why,  I  presume  I've  always  done  it.  I 
know  I've  done  with  my  might  whatsoever  I 
had  to  do." 

"  That  isn't  the  first  one,"  Tom  said,  signifi 
cantly.  Then  he  went  back  to  get  more  kind 
lings.  When  the  dishes  were  done  and  the 
kitchen  in  order  Maria  went  to  the  window  and 
looked  out  into  the  moonlight,  folding  her  arras 
on  the  window  seat  and  staring  out  without  see 
ing  moonlight,  or  stars,  or  anything  else  but  hei 
own  thoughts. 

"  Tom,"  she  said,  suddenly,  as  that  person 
came  in  again,  this  time  with  a  pail  of  water. 
"  Have  those  men  —  Jerry,  and  those  others  you 


A  New  Start.  869 

told  me  of  —  found  a  washerwoman  to  their 
mind  yet  ?  " 

"  No,"  said  Tom,  laughing.  "  Isn't  it  queer 
that  they  should  be  so  particular  ?  They  keep 
in  a  continual  growl.  That  Jerry  is  engaged  to 
be  married,  they  say ;  and  I  presume  that  is 
why  he  wants  such  shining  linen.  Mine  shine? 
beautifully,  they  say." 

"  Well,  Tom,  I'm  going  to  put  your  '  whatso 
ever '  straight  into  practice.  You  tell  them, 
to-morrow  morning,  that  I  will  do  their  washing 
for  them.  This  is  Friday  evening.  I'll  begin 
next  week,  and  you  can  keep  on  the  lookout  for 
some  more  people  who  want  washing  done." 

Tom  set  his  pail  down  so  heedlessly  that  the 
water  splashed  over  himself  and  the  floor. 

*'  You  can't  mean  it !  "  he  said,  regarding  her 
with  an  incredulous  stare. 

"  Yes,  I  can.  I'll  show  you  if  I  don't.  I  can 
buy  soap  and  starch,  and  we  are  obliged  to  keep 
fire  ;  and  washing  clothes  at  seventy-five  cents  a 
dozen  isn't  unprofitable  business.  Besides,  I 
can't  find  anything  else  to  do.  If  it  isn't  a 
4  whatsoever,'  I  don't  know  what  you  would  call 
it." 

"  Well,"  said  Tom,  after  regarding  her 
speechlessly  for  a  few  minutes,  "I  don't  know 
but  it  is.  It  is  one  that  requires  father  more 
moral  courage  than  car  driving,  I  believe.;  and 


870  Household  Puzzles. 

it  only  goes  to  prove  to  me  that  if  you  should 
take  up  that  motto  you  wtnild  carry  it  out  with 
power.  But,  Maria,  I  tell  you,  you  have 
skipped  several.  I  wish  you  would  begin  at  the 
beginning." 

"Well,  I  will,"  said  Maria,  energetically. 
"I'm  not  afraid  of  it.  I've  always  believed  that 
genuine  religion  —  that  which  accomplishes  the 
work  in  this  world  —  was  just  doing  with  energy 
what  was  set  before  one  to  do.  I'm  willing  to 
try  it.  I  haven't  the  least  idea  what  they  say  ; 
but  I'm  not  afraid  of  them.  Shall  I  take  them 
as  they  come?" 

"  That  is  the  way  I  am  doing,"  said  Tom, 
with  shining  eyes. 

"Very  well.  You  say  you  are  a  'whatsoever' 
Christian.  I'll  be  a  'whatsoever'  woman;  and 
we'll  see  how  far  apart  we'll  keep.  I'll  look  up 
the  first  one  as  soon  as  I  have  time." 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

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This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


APR  2  4 1987 


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